Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells
by AEM1
Summary: FINAL CHAPTER! The gang travels to Mill Valley for Margaret and Hawkeye's wedding, but Frank doesn't want them to find happiness and will do anything to stop it
1. Default Chapter

Mill Valley, California Monday, April 18, 1956 8:00AM  
Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells  
  
"OK. All right. I'll see you then. How could I forget? OK. Sure, Bring her along. She can meet Peg. See you on Thursday. Bye". 5-year-old Erin woke up on Monday morning to hear her father, BJ saying the previous things into the telephone and then hang up the phone.  
  
"Daddy, who were you talking to?' Erin asked.  
  
"Oh, no one, sweetheart." BJ came into Erin's room, which was right across from his room, the room he had been in when he was talking on the phone.  
  
"Come on, Mommy made pancakes" BJ smiled and picked up his daughter.  
  
"Why were your fingers crossed, Daddy?" Erin looked at her father's mustached face. BJ looked down at his fingers and noticed his fingers were crossed in the child-like habit when children lied to their parents.  
  
"I don't know." smiled BJ. "Force of habit. Ugh. You know, you're getting real heavy. Do you want to walk to the table today?" he said of their tradition of him carrying her to the table that had started when she was 2 and he had returned from Korea.  
  
"OK!" yelled Erin and ran downstairs into the kitchen.  
  
Peg Hunnicut's back was turned when Erin ran into the kitchen.  
  
"Don't run in the house, darling." the woman said automatically.  
  
"Sorry Mommy!" yelled Erin excitedly and started pouring maple syrup sloppily over her chocolate chip pancakes.  
  
"Good morning, darling" BJ strode into the kitchen smiling broadly and kissed his wife on the cheek, then kissed her lightly on the mouth.  
  
"I need more syrup, Mommy." interrupted Erin holding out the empty bottle, focusing heavily on her pancakes.  
  
"That's funny, I swear I just bought that bottle." Peg muttered, frowning in concentration.  
  
"Guess you didn't" BJ laughed "pancakes look good, darling" he said to his wife as Peg looked through the refrigerator, her brow furrowing in concentration.  
  
As BJ walked to the table, he looked at his daughter's pancakes "Erin, honey, I think that's a bit too much syrup. Anymore and the pancake's going to be floating, if it's not already."  
  
Peg looked up from the fridge to find her daughter's pancakes literally drowning in maple syrup. The whole plate was full of it. The plate was so full; some of the syrup had dripped on to the table and the floor. "Oh honey." Peg said breathlessly and grabbed a sponge and ran over to the disaster, leaving the refrigerator door open in the process.  
  
"Did I do something wrong?" asked Erin, looking like she was about to cry.  
  
"Oh no, sweetheart" said BJ, avoiding Peg's glare, which obviously meant 'stop babying her' "next time, let Mommy or I pour the syrup" he continued, giving Peg a glance of his own, meaning 'is that good enough for you?' Peg rolled her eyes and walked away to close the refrigerator door.  
  
"You know what?" BJ said to his daughter, ignoring his wife.  
  
"What?" Erin asked glumly.  
  
"I'll just take my pancakes." he grabbed two pancakes off the platter in front of him and buttered them quickly "...take your plate." he took Erin's plate and put his fork on the pancakes and slowly let the syrup drip down from Erin's pancakes onto his own "...and voíla.unoverlysyruped pancakes. That enough syrup for you, baby?" BJ grinned at the sight of his daughter's tear-streaked smiling face and held out the Erin's plate. Erin grinned eagerly, grabbed the plate and started wolfing down the pancakes. BJ felt his wife put her arms around his neck, kiss his cheek, and then go to sit in her seat across from Erin's, next to his seat which was at the end of the table. They smiled lovingly at each other, which BJ took to mean Peg wasn't mad at him anymore. "God, she's beautiful," thought BJ to himself "I missed her and Erin so much in that dammed war. But now it's over, and I'm home where I should be."  
  
Thoughts of the war reminded BJ of something. "Oh, Peg, I just remembered, Joe Swenson called. Today's meeting got rescheduled to Thursday, so I'm just going into work today."  
  
"I forgot all about that meeting" Peg said thoughtfully, chewing on a piece of pancake "I would have called you at work."  
  
"Oh well, you can call me there now" BJ smiled cheerfully.  
  
While Peg and BJ were smiling at each other, Erin was concentrating very hard on trying to remember something that was bothering her from when she was listening to her parents' conversation. Finally she remembered. "Daddy" she said "I heard you talking to Dr. Swenson. You said to him, 'see you Thursday'. You'll see him today. Why did you say that?"  
  
"Oh. uh." BJ said uncomfortably "I don't know" he recovered, and smiled, but rather weakly. Erin seemed to accept this, said "Oh, OK" and continued eating her pancakes. ************************************************************************ 


	2. Surprise Guests

Mill Valley, California Thursday, April 21, 1956 5:00PM The next few days passed by quickly with the same routine for each day. BJ went to work, and Erin went to morning kindergarten with her best friend Anna Jenkins. Peg worked every day as a receptionist for a respectable law firm every day from 8 AM to 2 PM. As Erin's kindergarten ran till noon, Peg always had her stay at Anna's till 2, when Peg picked Erin up after work. Thursday followed the same pattern, the only exception being BJ went to his meeting about patient care in all the hospitals in California, BJ being one of the four representatives from Mill Valley General Hospital, where he worked. Peg and Erin left for work and school, respectively, Peg dropping off Erin and Anna 5 minutes before the bell. Amanda Jenkins, Anna's mother, picked up the two girls at noon precisely and brought them home for a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and carrot sticks. At ten past two, precisely Peg picked up Erin from the Jenkins', where, as usual, Erin begged her mother to let Anna come to their house, but as usual Peg said no, for they had set up a play date for the two girls the next day. As always, BJ came home at 6:00PM to a hug from his daughter and a kiss from his wife. After husband and wife finished their 'welcome home' kiss, BJ pulled back and said "I was at the airport and I found these two people wandering around, so I invited them to stay. Come meet them, they're in the kitchen, they're real nice!" Grinning like a lunatic, BJ ran back into the kitchen, from where he had entered from work moments ago, Peg and Erin at his heels. Erin frowned in confusion, wondering if her father hadn't gone quite mad.  
  
Peg, on the other hand, spoke up in a whisper "BJ, what are you thinking of? We can't let strangers into our hou." she trailed off when she saw the couple standing in front of her. Her mouth formed a large O. Erin stood next to her, equally shocked. BJ stood there, still grinning like a lunatic, looking from Peg and Erin to the couple in front of them.  
  
The man was about 6' feet tall, long, thin, and lanky. His black hair, lightly streaked with gray, was all askew on his head as always. The male stranger had blue eyes that crinkled when he smiled or laughed. They were crinkled now, because he, like BJ was smiling insanely. The woman, was shorter, only about 5'5 and also thin. She had shoulder length blond hair that like the man's was lightly streaked with gray. Also like the man, she had blue, smiling eyes. After about a minute or so, the view in the room was still the same. Peg and Erin were still standing there shocked, the couple was standing across from them, smiling broadly, and BJ was standing in the middle of the two pairs, still grinning like a lunatic, looking from his wife and daughter to the couple standing across from them. Finally, Erin got over being shocked and ran over to the man, shouting "HAWKEYE!!!!!!"  
  
Hawkeye Pierce stooped down and picked up the grinning 5-year old. He gave her a hug, before turning to his best friend, BJ Hunnicut and said "Wait a minute, Beej, who's this? This isn't Erin. Last time I saw Erin, she was about this tall." And he put his hand to the about the height a three-year old would stand.  
  
Erin giggled "It is me, silly!!"  
  
Hawkeye laughed too "Ah, of course, my apologies. Boy, you're such a big girl now. I suppose big girls like you don't like presents, do you? I didn't think so. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to give this present to some homeless girl." He whipped out a medium-sized, neatly wrapped box.  
  
"NO!!!" Erin screamed. Hawkeye gave her the present and she sat on the floor opening it.  
  
"You know you spoil her?" BJ informed his friend in a whisper. Hawkeye just simply turned to BJ and said innocently  
  
"What and you don't?"  
  
"Yeah I do, I admit that, but to a point. She doesn't see you all that very often. It's good to give her a present sometimes, but not all the time. Now every time she sees you, Hawk she's going to ask for a present." BJ finished breathlessly.  
  
"Hey, if I had a kid, Beej, you'd spoil it, wouldn't you?" Hawkeye clapped his hand on his best friend's shoulder, his crinkled, bright blue eyes laughing along with him.  
  
"All right!" Erin screamed, interrupting BJ and Hawkeye's conversation. Erin pulled out four small plastic dollhouse dolls from a dollhouse set. The dollhouse Erin had, had small expansion packs that could be added to the original set. Erin had gotten the dollhouse from her parents for Christmas two years ago, the last time Hawkeye had come down, and had most of the expansion packs except for one. The one Hawkeye Pierce had just given her. "The only one I don't have!!!! How did you know, Hawkeye??? Thank you!!!! Thank you!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!" Erin hugged the man around the middle. The little girl ran away yelling over her shoulder "I'm gonna go put these in my dollhouse! I'll be right back!!" Erin ran off. Hawkeye was grinning ear to ear at this show. BJ was grinning too. Even though he thought his best friend was spoiling Erin, he secretly liked the fact his best friend would treat his baby so well after his scare with children at the end of the Korean War.  
  
Even after his secret thoughts on this matter, BJ voiced to his friend "You're going to spoil her, Hawk" Hawkeye turned to BJ and said sadly "We gotta spoil her now, BJ. One day your baby girl won't be a baby anymore and she won't want to be spoiled by her father or his best friend. She won't want to be spoiled by anyone that's not a crush or boyfriend of hers. Not that that's going to happen anytime soon, though" Hawkeye said quickly, spying the sad look on his best friend's face "9 times out of 10 teenage girls still like their families when they're teens. You won't know until then. But enjoy her now, Beej. Spoil her now. But not too often like you said. Don't want her to expect a gift every time I see her, do I? Then she'll end up being a spoiled brat. Not that I don't want to give her presents, or that I think she's a brat, but."  
  
BJ laughed "Hawk, shut up".  
  
Even though, by now, Hawkeye was basically back to normal (or abnormal as he would say) after he had witnessed and thought he had caused a Korean mother to kill her baby to prevent a North Korean attack on the bus she, some other South Korean villagers, wounded, and most of the 4077th M*A*S*H were on from being attacked by North Korean soldiers, he still had the tendency to sometimes start to babble incandescently when he talked to or about children. BJ laughed again "You're talking in the biggest circle I've ever heard you talk in." The two war buddies grinned at each other and hugged each other in a huge hug similar to the one they had shared earlier at the airport and to the one at the end of the war. When they weren't around each other, even if the period between visits was short, they still missed each other very much. They talked at least once a week on the telephone, if not twice, and on some weeks, as much as three or four!  
  
"I missed you, Beej" whispered Hawkeye.  
  
"Missed you too, Hawk." BJ whispered back.  
  
Meanwhile, after all this Peg Hunnicut was still in shock. Finally, she recovered, and turned to Hawkeye's escort, as if she was just about to ask her a question, just in time for Erin to come running down the hall, land in front of this strange woman and say "Who are you?"  
  
"Erin, that's rude!" Peg said sharply, even though that was the question she was just about to ask.  
  
"Oh don't worry, Peg. You must be Peg, BJ told me and anyone and everyone in a four mile vicinity about you and Erin." the blonde woman laughed. She squatted to Erin's height. "Hi. You must be Erin. Your daddy told me all about you. But that was years ago when you were a baby. I met your daddy at the same place Hawkeye met him. At the 4077th M*A*S*H in Korea during the war. You know what a M*A*S*H is, don't you?"  
  
"Yep." said Erin shyly "Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. My daddy told me."  
  
"That's right." the woman smiled "My name is Margaret Houlihan. It's good to finally meet the little girl your daddy told me all about"  
  
"Nice to meet you too, Miss Houlihan." Erin said politely "My daddy told me about you and showed me pictures. I really wanted to meet you because you looked nice. I also want to meet the guy that wears dresses."  
  
Margaret laughed "Thank you. And call me Margaret."  
  
"OK!" Erin yelled, "Wanna come see my dollhouse, Margaret?" Margaret smiled  
  
"Sure" and she followed Erin to her room.  
  
"Hold it, Erin" Hawkeye said and the girl turned around "didn't you want to meet me?" he asked.  
  
Erin grinned slyly "Nope." she giggled and ran away, pulling Margaret away from a 'shocked' Hawkeye. BJ and Peg were both laughing.  
  
Hawkeye shook his scraggly head in mock sadness "Just like her father, that one. Same sense of humor. Same as mine too."  
  
Peg laughed "I think you've been a bad influence on the both of them, Hawkeye."  
  
Hawkeye laughed and hugged Peg "It's great seeing you again, Peg." He shook his finger in BJ's direction. "this one I'm not so sure about. He doesn't teach his child to be nice to guests." Hawkeye sniffled, pretending to be sad, but obviously failing "I'm so hurt.wounded.nay outraged at he way I've been treated.I think I'll just go home. I've never been so insulted in my life." he said in a fake Boston accent, created to poke fun of an old Swamper, the butt of many jokes, the ever-popular Charles Emerson Winchester III. This show was too much for BJ and Hawkeye. After Hawkeye finished his speech, the pair bowled over in laughter, literally rolling on the floor in hysterics.  
  
Peg rolled her eyes at the antics of her husband and his best friend. "I think I'll go rescue Margaret from the clutches of Erin and her dollhouse. Once Erin gets someone in there looking at the dollhouse, she doesn't like to let them leave unless I make her." Peg started to walk away.  
  
Hawkeye got up from the floor, wiping tears of laughter away from his eyes. "Oh yeah, Peg. Margaret and I are taking you guys out to a nice restaurant for dinner."  
  
"Why?" BJ asked curiously "what for?" Hawkeye stared at his best friend innocently "In honor of our visit of course. What else would it be?" ************************************************************************  
  
Hey, thanks to all who reviewed. Especially to Assilem (I'll get those stories to you soon, I promise). I really appreciate it. Thanks again! 


	3. Memories

"I'm still surprised Peg let you keep that cheesy mustache, Beej." Hawkeye said, popping popcorn into his mouth. The group had gone to Angelo's, one of the best restaurants in town. The women had gone to take Erin to the bathroom, so the ex-Swamprats were alone.  
  
"Hey, don't make fun of my mustache, pal, it's got a lot of memories attached" BJ said with mock anger in his voice.  
  
Hawkeye grinned slyly, "Oh yeah. Which ones, The time we kept pulling tricks on Winchester, you denied helping and I got blamed so Charles and I got together and put a sleeping you in the nurses' tent naked or the time you were forced to listen to Charles' 'Dead Children's Glee Club record because you couldn't leave the SWAMP and your trick to get Margaret and Charles mad at each other so Margaret wouldn't loan Charles her record player backfired?"  
  
BJ grinned back "Nope, it's a memory of the time I made you sing 'You're the Tops' without your bottoms."  
  
The two men sat there, smirking at each other, and that's how Peg, Erin and Margaret found them when they returned from the bathroom. Erin pulled on her mother's sleeve, "Why are Daddy and Hawkeye staring at each other like that?"  
  
"I.uh.don't know, do you Margaret?" Peg stuttered. There were few times she saw her husband look like all of them were when Hawkeye was with him, but she was still surprised when she saw that look. It was always strange to think Hawkeye knew a different BJ then she did.  
  
Margaret laughed "Nothing to worry about, Peg. Knowing these two, they were trading sarcastic comments, but since they haven't said a word since we arrived, which for both of them is very odd, they're all done now"  
  
"Right in one, darling." smirked Hawkeye, never looking away from BJ. Both men weren't blinking. Suddenly the two men burst into peals of uncontrollable laughter, causing looks from all the restaurant-goers around them.  
  
"What were we laughing at, Hawk?" asked BJ, wiping tears of laughter away from his eyes.  
  
"I don't even have the vaguest idea. And I don't even want to know!!" shrieked Hawkeye, his laughter starting up again, starting BJ's again. Margaret and Peg looked at each other, rolled their eyes, and sighed.  
  
BJ's laughter stopped. "Hawk.did you just call Margaret, 'darling'.?"  
  
"What, you got a problem with that, buddy? That what I want to call a close friend of mind, OK? Do you want me to still keep calling you 'BJ' or do you want me to start calling you by your given name 'Benito Jehosifat'. That is your real name, isn't it? No, can't be, you're not Spanish. You wouldn't tell me in Korea, but now I beg of you. I need to know. WHAT DOES 'BJ' STAND FOR!!!" screamed Hawkeye, causing more stares.  
  
BJ smirked wickedly at his old friend "Anything you want."  
  
"BJ dear, what do your initials stand for? I don't think you ever told me." Peg remembered  
  
"You never even told your wife, BJ?" Hawkeye said, traces of mock surprised looks on his face "And I thought you were the most devoted family man in the world. You have to tell your wife, BJ. I'm surprised and shocked you didn't. Or at least tell me. I thought I was your best friend, Beej. You tell me everything. Well maybe not everything. Just tell me this one thing. Pretend I'm on my deathbed or something. Just tell me. WHAT DO YOUR DAMMED INITIALS STAND FOR!!!" Hawkeye ranted. BJ's grin grew more devishly  
  
"You're not dying you don't even have a cold!" teased BJ  
  
"AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!" screamed Hawkeye "JUST TELL ME, DAMMIT!!!"  
  
"Ignore my crazy, ranting and raving friend over here." BJ grinned to the staring people in the restaurant.  
  
"My ranting gets raves" sneered Hawkeye sarcastically.  
  
"To change the subject." started Margaret, not wanting to cause more of a scene then they already had.  
  
"Good idea, Margaret" said BJ, still chuckling. He stopped "Why are we here?"  
  
"To celebrate our arrival, of course." laughed Hawkeye "To celebrate the fact Hawkeye Pierce and Margaret Houlihan are in Mill Valley, California, with good friends, having good times, and remembering old good ones."  
  
"Aah, of course." nodded BJ knowingly ".why are we really here?"  
  
"What you don't like my story?" asked Hawkeye innocently  
  
"That's just it, it's a story"  
  
"Well the reason we're here.cannot be divulged until another date, place, and time, or until I feel like telling it, whichever comes first. Anyway, to change the subject, yet again, I want to ask the beautiful Miss Erin Hunnicut if she would like to accompany me on a walk around the plaza. Whaddya say, Erin?"  
  
"OK" Erin answered and jumped off her chair. The two walked off. BJ turned to Margaret "What do you know about his." He motioned toward the door Hawkeye and Erin had just disappeared out through ".more erratic than usual behavior?"  
  
"Absolutely nothing. Hawkeye's acting crazier than usual. I have no remote clue what he's talking about. He's acting crazier than usual." Margaret protested.  
  
"As long as I have known you, you have never repeated yourself and you just did" pointed out BJ "Spill it, Houlihan, what do you know?"  
  
"Nothing" Margaret protested "The only thing I know is.I have to use the restroom, excuse me." And she started to walk off  
  
"You just went!" Peg said. Either Margaret was out of earshot, or she chose to ignore BJ and Peg, no one ever knew, and she continued walking towards the bathroom. BJ and Peg gave each other blank stares as Margaret walked off. Margaret, Hawkeye, and Erin didn't re-appear until the meal was served. All during the meal Peg, BJ, and Erin kept trying to ask Hawkeye and Margaret what was going on, but every time they turned to one, the one had food in his or her mouth. Then they would turn to the other one and the same thing would happen. Everyone finished their meals at the same time. BJ and Peg were about to ask them again when both Hawkeye and Margaret pushed their chairs back and got up at exactly the same time, Margaret muttering something about taking a walk and Hawkeye about the bathroom.  
  
BJ and Peg looked at each other before looking at Erin "What do you know about this?" they both asked the little girl at the same time  
  
"Nothing. I swear. Hawkeye wouldn't tell me either!"  
  
Just like dinner, when their desserts appeared, so did Hawkeye and Margaret. Also as they did at dinner, Hawkeye and Margaret took bites at alternating times with BJ and Peg looking from one to the other. After dessert, BJ and Peg prepared to wrestle Hawkeye and Margaret to the ground if they tried to leave again, but surprisingly, both stayed right where they were.  
  
"What the heck is going on with you two?" asked BJ, who was rather annoyed, and would have probably said something stronger, had Erin not been there.  
  
"Well." said Hawkeye, while the busboy was clearing their dessert plates. He looked at Margaret. She looked at him. The time had come.  
  
"We're getting married!" both Hawkeye and Margaret blurted out at the same time. 


	4. Hawkeye and BJ's Master Plans

BJ, Peg, and Erin stared at the two of them with their mouths hanging wide open in shock. "Married?!" said BJ, obviously delighted "Congratulations!" he yelled. BJ jumped up immediately, and started to hug Hawkeye in congratulations. The group spent the next 10 minutes hugging each other.  
  
When they sat down again, BJ said "We gotta have a drink to celebrate.waiter.waiter.a bottle of your finest champagne.and another juice for the kid here."  
  
"Hey, watch it with the fine champagne, Hunnicut. I'm the one paying for this" teased Hawkeye.  
  
"You have a good job, Pierce, you can pay for it. I happen to know doctors make a lot of money." BJ teased right back.  
  
Hawkeye opened his mouth to counter BJ's last statement when Peg quickly intervened "OK. Enough of this. Let's move on to other things. And the number one topic is; BJ told me during the war you two acted like you couldn't stand each other at times. How the heck did you end up together?"  
  
"Especially considering last time I checked, Margaret was in the Army and was moving around from one US Army hospital to another shaping it up." BJ continued "Are you actually living in one place now?"  
  
Margaret laughed "That was what I was doing, BJ. As you know, right after the war, after I helped end things at the 8063rd, I came back here thinking I was going to work in an Army hospital. One Army hospital. Then I was given the opportunity to help many Army hospitals, and you know I can't give up a chance to help out at places, so I did it. And I told everybody from the 4077th what I was doing. This, as I said, was right after the Korean War ended. So this was nearly three years ago. I'd been keeping in touch of everyone from the 4077th, as you know. Then about 1 year ago, I was assigned to a hospital in Maine, near Crabapple Cove, so I decided to look up Hawkeye while I was in the neighborhood.Hawkeye, you want to tell this part?"  
  
Hawkeye grinned "Why not? She came to see me and we went out to dinner. This great place that sells lobster. Year round. All year this delicious lobster positively melts in your mouth. It was last March.or April.I don't remember which. the lobster I imagine was frozen but tasted as if it was fresh. It was the softest lobster you'll ever see! You didn't even need a lobster cracker to crack it! It."  
  
"Enough with the lobster, Pierce." Margaret interrupted.  
  
Hawkeye pouted and mock sniffled "But Margaret.I wanna talk about the lobster.I love lobster.I didn't get it for so long and I missed it so much and." Hawkeye stopped talking, mainly because Margaret had gotten up from her chair, which was on the other side of Hawkeye's and kissed Hawkeye passionately.  
  
She ceased and sat back down amidst BJ and Peg's amused smirks and said extremely calmly "I knew that would shut up the lobster maniac, now Hawkeye, dear, if you would continue, after the lobsters, if you please.  
  
Hawkeye straightened up in his chair, gave Margaret a mock salute and said in a corny Southern accent "Yes ma'am. Right away ma'am." He switched back to his normal voice "OK, now where did I leave off? Was it before the lobsters? Yes, I believe it wa.OK maybe it wasn't." he corrected at seeing the ghost of Margaret's 'Major Rules and Regulations Houlihan' glare. Hawkeye shuddered. That look had a lot of memories of times he really annoyed Margaret badly attached. "I never want to do something so bad to make Margaret have to use that look on me again." Hawkeye thought to himself. Immediately the look on Margaret's face softened as if she could read his thoughts.  
  
"Um." said Peg awkwardly.  
  
Hawkeye jumped back into his usual joking self as if nothing had happened "I thought about this before or after the lobster controversy for a long time and I came to the conclusion that I left off after the lobsters. Anyway, Margaret and I went out for dinner. We had a good time. no, a fantastic time. We both knew without telling the other we wanted to do this again so we did. Again. And again. And again. It started to get real serious. So, naturally, the next day, Margaret found out she was done with her rotation in Maine and going on to Georgia or somewhere. Of course, she didn't want to go. She asked if she could stay at the Army Hospital in Maine permanently, but there were no permanent nursing jobs open so she had to chose between me and the Army and she chose."  
  
"Hawkeye!" Margaret blurted out, interrupting Hawkeye "I realized that I loved Hawkeye, while I only liked the Army, and even that's stretching it a little, so I resigned my commission. Hawkeye got me a job at the Crabapple Cove Walk-In Clinic where he works. So we were working together days and seeing each other nights. We started dating each other more seriously and then suddenly a week ago, Hawkeye popped the question and I said yes."  
  
"I hate to interrupt but I have a quick bone to pick with Hawkeye." BJ interrupted irritably, which was odd for the usually happy-go lucky BJ "Oh, Hawkeye, my supposed best friend, are you and Margaret telling me that for the better part of the last year, you two have been dating and you didn't tell me your supposed best friend?"  
  
"Yep. That's, in summary, basically what I'm telling you." Hawkeye said.  
  
BJ glared "If I hadn't asked you down, would you have told me at all?"  
  
Hawkeye stared at BJ. He had thought BJ was joking about all that 'supposed best friend stuff'. "Beej, are you kidding?"  
  
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" spat BJ.  
  
"Of course I would have told you even had I not come down here." said Hawkeye in disbelief. How could BJ think, even for a second, that they weren't best friends anymore? Hawkeye continued "At the beginning I didn't want to say anything for fear of jinxing something. As things progressed, I knew I wasn't gonna screw up anything but I wanted to find some impressive way to tell you, that I was dating the ONE. The woman of my life. The one you knew I was going to be with, even though I was too thick to believe you. I couldn't find it, so I kept putting off telling you, putting off that day for no reason at all telling myself 'I'll tell him tomorrow', until one day last week I found myself on one knee in my living room with Margaret and an engagement ring outstretched in my hand happened. Then I knew I had to tell you mainly because I was dying to tell you everything, but also because I hated you of all people not knowing the most important detail of my life. You mean way too much to me, BJ, for you to be left out in the cold like that. Do you really think I think that little of our friendship that I wouldn't ever tell you about one of the biggest relationships in my life? But I found a way to tell you. I would come down, invite Margaret along, like she'd just shown up unexpectedly, and tell you we were getting married. And you came up with the idea of surprising Peg and Erin and not tell them we were coming. Remember Beej? Coming down was my idea, not yours. You just didn't know the real reason behind why we were coming. Remember?"  
  
BJ smiled "Yeah I remember"  
  
Hawkeye continued "You and I went to hell and back together. You being there, helped me through the roughest period in my life. You mean more to me then any other best friend I have ever had.yes, even Trapper." He said, reading the thought in BJ's mind.  
  
BJ burst out laughing unexpectedly "How did you do that? I was just thinking that same thought! You're turning into Radar or something!"  
  
Hawkeye joined in the laughter, like he almost always did when BJ laughed, and vice versa. "Or something is more like it. I guess we've known each other so long, we know what the other is thinking."  
  
"I guess we must be on the same wavelength." added BJ.  
  
Peg groaned "Now there's a scary thought."  
  
"Hey! I take offense!" joked BJ. "You're acting like that's a bad thing!"  
  
"How did you guys come up with the surprise visit idea?" asked Peg "What happened? Because as far as I know, BJ, you were at a meeting in San Francisco about patient care or something."  
  
BJ laughed "That's what you were supposed to think, darling. This whole thing actually started.well, early last week. Hawkeye called and, for a reason I just learned, wanted to come down. He said at the time he wanted to come down because he hadn't seen us in awhile or something (which is true, Hawk. You gotta come down more often). Anyway, I bought the story and came up with the idea of it being a surprise for Peg and Erin, so I told Hawk not to say anything and didn't say anything myself. Hawk said he had some vacation time coming for the week of the 18th of April, so I checked my calendar and agreed. But I still wanted my surprise. As the days went on, I didn't think I would get it unless I took a day out of work and didn't tell you about it. And then I was picked to go to the patient care meeting, which was scheduled for the 18th of April. I told you about the meeting, Peg, but then I thought about it and realized it was the perfect excuse to go and pick up Hawkeye for the surprise and no one would miss me. I would pick him up after the meeting or something. That morning, while you were making breakfast, Peg, Hawkeye called at about 8:00 AM our time, from Iowa. I told him about the plan and he told me two things 1) Margaret Houlihan had literally shown up on his doorstep back in Crabapple Cove and was it all right for her to tag along and 2) The plane had been forced to make an emergency landing in Iowa and couldn't leave Iowa until Thursday because of a bad weather pattern over Nevada (that was the conversation you heard, Erin)."  
  
"Which was true, by the way" interrupted Hawkeye and BJ continued  
  
"But now, since he wasn't coming till today, I had to think of a reason to come up here today. Then it came to me. I would tell you the meeting had been rescheduled to Thursday, but it wouldn't and I would go up to San Francisco on Monday for the meeting and then take a day off on Thursday to pick up Hawkeye and Margaret. It's a good thing you don't call me at work too often, Peg." finished BJ.  
  
"And what did you guys do in Iowa?" asked Peg.  
  
"We went to visit an old friend of ours from the 4077th, Radar O'Reilly." Hawkeye answered.  
  
BJ grinned "How is ol' Radar anyway?"  
  
"Doing great, mom's doing great, farm's doing great, and." Hawkeye grinned slyly" Radar's got a girlfriend. Her name's Patty. They met at the airport when Radar was coming back to the 4077th from R&R"  
  
"Radar's got a girlfriend." BJ repeated in disbelief "Our Radar. The same guy who used to sleep with a teddy bear and used to stutter whenever a girl talked to him?"  
  
"The very same." smiled Hawkeye fondly. 


	5. BJ's Secret

"Wait a minute. Radar was the one that visited us on the way back to his home when he got discharged, wasn't it?" remembered Peg.  
  
"Yep that was him." grinned BJ.  
  
"Oh" laughed Peg "I totally forgot about this until just now. Remember BJ, I wrote you after he left that when Erin first saw Radar she."  
  
Hawkeye gave a very forced laugh "Yes BJ told us all about that. It was hilarious." Hawkeye interrupted, glancing over at BJ. He remembered how BJ had acted when he had gotten that fateful letter after the departure of their old company clerk.  
  
"What did I do?" asked Erin  
  
"I'll tell you later" Hawkeye intercepted the question quickly, knowing that if he didn't answer, Peg would because from the look on her face, BJ had never told her about the aftermath of the letter.  
  
Hawkeye's actions when the letter was first mentioned was making Peg suspicious. Why was he trying to avoid all conversations about the letter by answering all questions about it quickly? She also noticed BJ hadn't said a thing since the letter had been first mentioned. Why didn't Hawkeye want anyone talking about it? Peg didn't know the answers to these questions. All she knew was it was making her mad that Hawkeye was trying to stop anyone from talking about it. She didn't know why he was doing it, but she was going to find out.  
  
"Hawkeye" Peg said icily "May I speak to you for a moment in private?"  
  
"Sure, Peg" answered Hawkeye, throwing his best friend a confused look that said 'What does Peg want with me?' and receiving one back that said 'I have no idea'. Hawkeye got up and followed Peg to the front of the restaurant where they had given the number of people in their party 45 minutes ago. Then, it had been filled with people waiting for a table, now it was deserted.  
  
Peg stopped and spun around to face Hawkeye "All right, Pierce, what's the deal?" she asked in a startling impression of the 'Major Houlihan' part of Margaret.  
  
Under normal circumstances, that would have made Hawkeye laugh, Peg was normally a sweet, kind, wouldn't-hurt-a-flea kind of woman, but the look on Peg's face told him that a joke would earn him nothing less then a slap in the face, so he settled for a subtle "What's up?"  
  
Peg snorted "What's up? What's up? Well for one thing, I can't remind my husband of something funny that happened that we can share about the one thing in our marriage that we didn't go through together without his best friend trying to pretend it never happened, that's what's up!" Hawkeye stared. 'Damn that BJ for not telling Peg what happened!" he thought to himself 'He made me out to be the bad guy and I was trying to protect him from a bad memory! The only thing I can do is tell her what happened.'  
  
Hawkeye took a deep breath and started to tell "Peg, BJ missed you and Erin a hell of a lot doing that so-called police action. He spent the whole war feeling guilty. Guilty he wasn't there for you. For Erin. For the beginning of Erin's life. When he got that letter and found out his own daughter didn't even know him, didn't know what he looked like out of a soldier uniform, it hurt him. A lot. Most of all he was jealous of Radar. Jealous that Radar was back in the States and seeing his family. Jealous that Radar was the first one his own daughter ever called 'Daddy'. BJ became depressed. I came back from Post-Op duty one evening to find BJ drunk by the still in our tent. I tried to console him with the fact that I missed my father too, but he told me it wasn't the same. He ended up totaling the still and hitting me. A little while later, I saw him again and all his problems came out. He told me of his envious feelings towards Radar. He even mentioned my old friend, Trapper, the guy he replaced. Beej said though he had never met Trapper, he was jealous of him too. BJ was jealous of them both. Jealous that members of the 4077th had gone home and none of them had been him."  
  
The furious look on Peg's face melted off and was replaced with a look of remorse "Oh my God."she whispered "Poor BJ. He never told me. I never knew. If I had I wouldn't have mentioned it tonight. If I had thought all those years ago. Thought.even entertained the thought that BJ wouldn't think it funny. I knew he hated the fact he couldn't be there for Erin. He even told me a few times. It should have occurred to me that he wouldn't want to hear that Erin called someone else Daddy. It should have occurred to me that knowing that would tear him up inside more then he already was!"  
  
Tears started to run down Peg's face. Hawkeye wrapped his arms around her. "Ssh.don't blame yourself" he whispered soothingly "It wasn't your fault. It was your big-footed moronic husband's fault. He should have told you. How could you have known how he felt about it if he didn't tell you?"  
  
"He-he's m-my husband. I'm supposed to know what he's thinking, without him even telling me. I-I sh-should have known." she trailed off, crying harder then ever.  
  
"You might be his wife, but you're not a mind reader. You can't be expected to know what someone is thinking all the time, even if he is your husband." Hawkeye released her from his hug but still kept his hands on her shoulders "Peg.Peg.listen to me, Peg.don't beat yourself up over this, it's not your fault. Anyone could have made the mistake you made. Any human could have made the mistake you made. And if you don't think yourself human, you're gonna hate every mistake you make in your marriage, and from what I've heard about marriage, there's a lot of mistakes waiting to be made. You're gonna go from hating your mistakes to hating yourself, to hating BJ and hate and marriage don't mix. And that will be the end of your marriage. You'll lose the one man I can tell you love more then anything. And you don't want that do you?" Peg wiped the tears out of her eyes and shook her head. Hawkeye smiled "I didn't think you wanted that."  
  
"What should I say to BJ?" asked Peg "I feel awful about what I wrote in that letter and I want to say something to him to make up for it but I don't know what to say."  
  
Hawkeye looked unusually grave and said "There's only one thing to do. Just don't mention it to BJ. The wound that was made by that letter was closed a long time ago. Any mention of it would hurt BJ more. I doubt you want to hurt him. Don't mention it. Don't reopen the wound. Come on," he said in a lighter tone "let's get back to the table before someone thinks you've run away with the groom-to-be." Peg laughed softly and started to lead the way back to the table when she was hailed by Hawkeye. She turned.  
  
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while." He said  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why did you let BJ keep that cheesy mustache?"  
  
Peg laughed "Well, I liked it. It made him look taller and older and handsomer and." she giggled and a faint touch of pink formed on her cheeks "it tickled when I kissed him!"  
  
Hawkeye laughed "Well that's a reason to keep a hairy upper lip if I've ever heard one!" Peg laughed too. They walked back to the table still chuckling. 


	6. A Little Help From Your Friends

"Where the heck are they?" Margaret wondered out loud.  
  
"I dunno" joked BJ "maybe Peg ran off with the groom-to-be"  
  
"I told you they would start to think that!" sang a voice from behind BJ. BJ turned around to find Hawkeye standing there with Peg next to him. Both were laughing hysterically.  
  
"What's so funny?' asked Margaret. Hawkeye laughed again and dropped into his seat between her and BJ "Peg and I were talking and I realized we should be getting back and I told this to Peg and also added that we should get back before someone starts to think she ran away with the groom-to-be!" Everyone burst out laughing at this.  
  
When the laughter subsided, BJ asked "What were you two talking about for so long anyway?" Peg, who was just sitting down in her seat in between BJ and Erin, sat down rather hard and looked at Hawkeye desperately.  
  
"Um." mumbled Hawkeye, glancing at Peg out of the corner of one eye. The other eye was looking at BJ to make sure he wasn't jumping to any conclusions about the unusual reaction to his question. He wasn't and Hawkeye continued  
  
"Peg was just asking me when Margaret and I were planning to get married."  
  
BJ seemed to accept this answer and asked "When are you two planning this shindig anyways?"  
  
Hawkeye took his eyes off BJ and turned their glance at Margaret, who nodded, quick and sharp so no one would notice. This was their second surprise. Never taking his eyes off Margaret, who wasn't taking her eyes off him, he said "Well, we're staying for two weeks, we were thinking of the end of the second week sometime around there." The two wrenched their eyes off each other and looked at the three Hunnicuts whose jaws were about scraping the table. Margaret and Hawkeye burst out laughing. Their announcement had had the effect they had expected.  
  
BJ finally regained his composure and said "Two weeks is a short period of time. Are you sure you will have planned all of the day the way you want it to go by then? Your wedding day is the most important day of your life. You want it to be perfect. You don't want to plan it in a hurry and sacrifice the enjoyment of the day in order to get it over with."  
  
"It's funny, my dad said the same exact thing not last week" joked Hawkeye  
  
"Hawk." BJ shook his head  
  
"But we do have it planned out" protested Margaret  
  
"Or most of it anyway" continued Hawkeye "Neither of us is very religious so we're just gonna have an outdoor wedding, so we don't need a church, and we're gonna have Father Mulcahy marry us. And besides, if we get married here, we know that you'll be able to be there."  
  
"Oh yeah, like I'd miss my best friend's wedding" BJ rolled his eyes. "You have the place and date planned out, fine, do you have the people?"  
  
"Yeah." said Hawkeye in mock defiance  
  
"Do you know what you'll need for the wedding and where to get them? Dresses, tuxes.You can't just go into Sears & Roebuck and ask for a wedding dress."  
  
"Yeah, considering Sears & Roebuck became Sears two years ago!" laughed Hawkeye  
  
"Neither of you know anything about weddings do you?" pointed out BJ.  
  
"Only how to avoid creating a bad one." muttered Margaret. She was thinking of her marriage to Lieutenant Colonel Donald Penobscott. She had always regretted marrying him on spur of the moment (though she had been waiting for it for 5 months), agreeing to become engaged to him after one weekend. Though her marriage to Hawkeye was going to be spur of the moment, her marriage to Donald lacked two things her marriage to Hawkeye had; 1) it wasn't going to be in a war zone and 2) unlike Donald, who she only thought she had loved, she really loved Hawkeye and had known it for years. Margaret had always thought the marriage to Donald had not lasted partly because they had a hurried wedding and partly because he was a lying, cheating idiot.  
  
"Well you're lucky." said BJ, bringing Margaret to the present "You're lucky you have me and Peg to help you."  
  
"Thanks Beej" smiled Hawkeye gratefully.  
  
"Yes, thank you" added Margaret. Hawkeye knew nothing about planning weddings and was willing to swear it in a court of law and Margaret knew even less.  
  
A long pause occurred then and was only broken when Peg said "So, tell me some stories about being in Korea" in order so her husband wouldn't have time to remember how the conversation about Hawkeye and Margaret's marriage had gotten started.  
  
"You've heard them all, sweetheart" protested BJ  
  
"Not from Margaret's point of view"  
  
Hawkeye started to laugh "Oh you wanna hear stories about Margaret, huh, well this one is right up your alley."  
  
The group sat taking turns telling stories for hours. The restaurant around them slowly emptied out but no one noticed. They also didn't notice the waiters and waitresses standing by, glaring at them because they were so loud and not taking away their plates because with the laughter exploding every few seconds, they were scared of the group, thinking they were all crazy and fearing what the group would do if someone went to the table and told the group it was closing time. But for all the group noticed, the restaurant was full. Finally, what clued them into the fact the hour was late was when Erin sighed and fell forward onto her crossed arms on the table.  
  
After quickly checking that she hadn't fallen because of a medical problem, her father checked his watch and his eyes widened when they focused on the time "No wonder Erin fell asleep" BJ laughed, looking up at the rest  
  
"What?" asked Hawkeye looking at his friend quizzically.  
  
"It's 10:00!"  
  
"10:00!" yelled Peg in disbelief "We should have kept our eyes on the time! She's only five years old! 10:00 is way past her bedtime and she has to go to school tomorrow!"  
  
"Peg, one day late bedtime won't hurt her" said BJ "and it's not like we're gonna do it every night and besides, tonight is a special occasion."  
  
"You've got a point there." smiled Peg "I just don't want here to be tired at school tomorrow"  
  
"Well let's stop chatting and bring her home then" cut in Hawkeye. A few minutes later, Hawkeye had gotten the check from the waiter and paid. The four adults got up from the table. BJ stooped down and picked up his daughter in his arms and carried her out, following the other three. The waiter escorted them to the door and was quick to slam the door on their retreating backs and quickly flip the Open/Closed sign to Closed before they could turn back.  
  
"Did anyone else notice as we were walking out, there was no one else in the restaurant?" asked Margaret  
  
"Yes and they immediately flipped the sign to Closed the moment we left and.yes this says the restaurant was supposed to close at 8:00!" " Peg observed  
  
"They seemed anxious to escort us out. I've never been escorted out of this place before. And I thought they were just being polite" BJ put in  
  
"Well if they wanted us out, all they had to do was ask. We don't bite.much." Hawkeye finished with a smirk "Personally, I only bite nurses myself and now that I'm marrying one, she's the only one that's gonna get that kind of treatment." Hawkeye put his arm around Margaret's shoulders as Peg rolled her eyes. Laughing, the group walked to the car.  
  
They arrived at the Hunnicut household a few minutes later. Peg let them in.  
  
"I'm gonna put Erin to bed." said BJ and went to do just that.  
  
Peg yawned "It's been a long day. I'd better get to bed myself, I'll see you two in the morning. You both know where you're sleeping, right?"  
  
"Yep" answered Hawkeye "Margaret's sleeping in the guest room, I'm on the couch."  
  
"On the couch" said Margaret in disbelief "I feel like I'm putting you out, Hawkeye."  
  
"You're not putting me out of anywhere, darling, it's not even my bed."  
  
Margaret had no answer so Peg spoke "OK, good, as long as you know where you're sleeping. Goodnight."  
  
"'Night" said Margaret and Hawkeye at the same time. Peg left the room.  
  
Margaret turned to Hawkeye "Well, I'd better go to sleep too. We're gonna have a busy day tomorrow."  
  
"A busy 2 weeks is more like it!" Hawkeye then leaned in and kissed her. They paused, looked at each other and smiled, then they started in again. A few minutes later, they broke apart slowly  
  
"I'd better go to bed." murmured Margaret  
  
"Yeah I'm pretty beat myself" responded Hawkeye. He pulled her to him and kissed her some more.  
  
"I'm going to bed now" announced Margaret. They kept kissing.  
  
"I'm watching you leave the room." said Hawkeye. They kept kissing. "I'm walking to the couch." They kept kissing "I'm lying down." They kept kissing "I'm going to sleep." They kept kissing "I'm fast asleep on the couch." They kept kissing. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat. Hawkeye and Margaret broke apart. Hawkeye, who had his back to the newcomer, turned and said irritably "You have a lot of nerve, Hunnicut."  
  
BJ chuckled "I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just looking for my wife, but she's not here."  
  
"Ya think?" mumbled Hawkeye.  
  
"She went to bed" said Margaret 'and I think I'll do the same thing. Goodnight, gentlemen." She passed Hawkeye then BJ and went off to her room.  
  
************************************************************************ Well, there's another chapter.Love it? Hate it? I'd like to know, so review please! I don't think I ever told you this is my first story so it might suck. The responses I've gotten have all been good, but if it gets too drawn out or starts to suck, just tell me. I always forget to do disclaimers.I think everyone knows who owns the M*A*S*H gang, so I've never bothered. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed my story so far and keep on enjoying it. Thanks to all who reviewed, especially to Lilly: that review really made my day! Thanks to everyone! -AEM 


	7. Best of Friends

You know what? There's actually no point in doing disclaimers. If you don't know that I don't own M*A*S*H you're an idiot, but here goes: I don't own M*A*S*H. ************************************************************************ "So, you going to bed, yet?" asked BJ  
  
"No, you?"  
  
"Nah."  
  
As if this was an unspoken agreement, they went to the living room. Hawkeye sat on the couch, BJ on a recliner. He leaned forward. Hawkeye leaned back and put his hands behind his head. Total silence. It lasted about two minutes.  
  
"I can't believe you're getting married!" yelled BJ  
  
"Well, believe it, Beej, cause it's happening!" laughed Hawkeye "I am marrying Margaret Houlihan, the most beautiful nurse in our old unit.no the world!"  
  
"I'm glad you're happy, Hawk. For a while there, it didn't seem you would settle down at all."  
  
"Yeah, and it was that way for a while. All the woman I tried to date, if they started to talk marriage.I just wasn't interested which made them not interested in me. The few who stayed interested, once they found out I couldn't handle being around children very well, especially young, crying ones.that was it. They were through with Hawkeye Pierce. I was never sad to see any of them go. None of them were right for me. I even knew it during the relationship. But then it turned out that the right woman for me was the one who went through the same things I had. She understood the pain I had gone through with the baby on the bus because she was there too."  
  
"Yeah, she was really worried about you then." remembered BJ "We were all worried for that matter."  
  
"Yeah but that was a long time ago" added Hawkeye "It was ages ago now that I think of it. You know what else was ages ago? When you first came to the 4077th."  
  
"Whoa that was a long time ago, wasn't it?" smiled BJ  
  
"Yeah and if the person that came to replace Trapper had been like Frank and Margaret, I would have gone crazy a hell of a lot earlier. Radar told me later that he overheard Frank and Margaret in the office talking and saying how they were going to mold you into a version of themselves. I guess it was good I was the one that found you first then."  
  
"Frank and Margaret wouldn't have impressed me enough to want to be like them, even had you not gone with Radar to pick me up that day." assured BJ "Though, maybe if you hadn't come, we wouldn't be as close as we are. Getting bombed is a great way to break the ice between two people, isn't it?"  
  
Hawkeye laughed "That was funny. Of course, since we were drunk, anything is funny. Especially when." Hawkeye chortled "especially when I introduced you to Frank and you.Hawkeye laughed more and BJ started when he figured out what Hawkeye was saying "and you saluted and snorted." "WHAT SAY FERRET FACE!" They both screamed and burst into peals of laughter  
  
"Ssh" BJ giggled a moment later "We'll wake up Erin, Peg and Margaret"  
  
"Yeah and you know how Margaret gets when she's woken up" snorted Hawkeye. A minute later they both had calmed down enough to at least look at each other without laughing hysterically. "We've been through a lot together, haven't we Beej?" Hawkeye continued, growing serious.  
  
"You can say that again" mumbled BJ  
  
"Rather not, it will take too long. We have been through a lot together. More than I've been through with any other best friend I've had. When I said before that if the guy who replaced Trapper was like Frank and Margaret, I would go crazy, I wasn't lying. That's what would have happened. I would have gone crazy with only Frank to talk to for the rest of the war. You're my best friend, BJ. You mean more to me than Trapper or Toby Wilder or Dicky Barber or any other best friend I've ever had. Beej, would you be my best man?"  
  
"Hey Hawk." whispered BJ "I'd be honored to be your best man."  
  
Hawkeye smiled "Well, then, best man, let's get some shut-eye, ok?"  
  
BJ smiled too "OK." He got up and started to walk out of the room, but paused at the door "G' night, Hawk"  
  
"Goodnight, Beej." Hawkeye responded and BJ left the room. Hawkeye smiled. He stretched out on the couch and fell fast asleep.  
  
************************************************************************ Hope you liked it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I feel really special every time someone says they like my story. Chalk this update to the fact I can't get offline today, for some reason. I just can't seem to bring myself to get offline.I'm going to try now. Wish me luck! 


	8. Wedding Plans

*Disclaimer: If anyone thinks I own the M*A*S*H gang, I suggest you find Sidney Freeman and make an appointment to lie on his couch and discuss the crazy thoughts that are running through your head.*  
  
Mill Valley, California Friday, April 22, 1956 8:00AM  
  
As Hawkeye returned to consciousness the next morning, the first thing he heard, without even opening his eyes, was the banging of pots and pans and muttered curses, which could only mean Margaret was trying, unsuccessfully, to make breakfast. He had been debating whether or not to go and either help, or try to stop Margaret from making breakfast when he heard Peg go in to the room, and say something he couldn't hear to Margaret. Whatever she said had stopped Margaret because now there was only a limited banging of the pots and pans and he heard Margaret say "OK, then, what can I do to help?"  
  
He smiled a little. It was clear he would have to do the cooking after they married 'Good thing Dad taught me how.' He thought to himself. He was about to go back to sleep when suddenly he got the sudden feeling he was being watched, that he hadn't noticed before. He opened his eyes slowly and jumped a mile in the air when he realized there was someone looking back into his eyes. Hawkeye rolled his eyes when he realized who was watching him and pulled himself into a sitting position on the couch. "You think that's funny?"  
  
"Yep" Erin Hunnicut giggled and sat down next to him and leaned against him.  
  
Hawkeye laughed, in spite of himself "Why were you watching me, anyway?'  
  
"Cuz , Margaret said I couldn't watch television cause you were asleep." She answered promptly  
  
"So you decided to watch me, instead?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"And you thought it would be fun to wear my robe, huh?" he said as he noted what she was wearing over her pajamas. The sleeves were hanging a foot off her arms and if she stood up and tried to walk around, she would be tripping on the robe.  
  
"It was warm."  
  
"Are you cold?" Hawkeye asked, his voice full of concern for the little girl.  
  
"No" she answered  
  
"Oh, Hawkeye as long as you're awake, can you come in here?" called Peg from the other room.  
  
"See what you did?" joked Hawkeye to Erin "now I have to do work".  
  
Erin made a face "Eew, sorry, Hawkeye."  
  
Hawkeye smiled and hugged the little girl. "Can I have my robe back?" he asked  
  
"What would you do if I said no?" Erin teased. One of Hawkeye's maniac grins overcame him.  
  
"This" he said and proceeded to tickle her.  
  
She giggled hysterically "All right, Hawkeye, you can have it.!" she shrieked, stood up, took off the robe and gave it to him. He tousled her hair and left the room. ************************************************************************  
"Good morning, ladies." said Hawkeye as he entered the room, pulling on his robe as he went. Margaret came over and kissed him.  
  
As they pulled apart, she said "Ick, I can't believe you still have that ratty red robe, Hawkeye."  
  
"Hey, lady, don't make fun of my bathrobe. I love this robe. It has many memories attached." Hawkeye said in mock offensiveness.  
  
"Oh yeah" Margaret challenged "Which ones?"  
  
"I think I've been here before." said a voice behind them. In sync, both Hawkeye and Margaret turned to see BJ leaning against the wall with his arms folded.  
  
"What do you mean?" said Margaret suspiciously.  
  
Hawkeye laughed "Nothing. What we were saying was part of a conversation BJ and I had yesterday at the restaurant."  
  
"Speaking of BJ." said Peg, who had been silent throughout this whole conversation. She smiled and BJ went over to her and kissed her passionately. They pulled apart just as Erin came into the room and went over to her parents.  
  
"Are we gonna have breakfast one of these days?" she complained.  
  
Peg smiled and stroked her hair. "Five minutes, OK?"  
  
"OK" she said  
  
"Why don't you get dressed?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am" and she left the room.  
  
Breakfast came, where BJ and Hawkeye exchanged sarcastic remarks and bounced jokes off each other where the other one always somehow knew what to respond, all this making Peg, Erin and Margaret laugh. All too soon, breakfast was over and Peg was telling Erin "Get your school stuff, it's time to go." Erin left the room and Peg started towards the sink to wash dishes, which made Margaret jump up to help. Soon it was time for Peg to go to work and Erin to school. Erin said goodbye to everyone and was going to go wait in Peg's car, when Hawkeye called out her name.  
  
She turned and Hawkeye said "Hey Erin, how would you like to be in my and Margaret's wedding?"  
  
Erin's face lit up and she said "Really? What would I be?"  
  
Hawkeye smiled "How would flower girl sound to you?"  
  
"YEAH!!!!!" she screamed and ran over to Hawkeye and attacked him with a huge hug and did the same to Margaret, and ran out the door screaming "That is so cool! I can't wait to tell Anna!"  
  
Peg smiled and said "That was nice of you, Hawkeye, I think you really made her day."  
  
Hawkeye smiled too "All in a day's work."  
  
Peg walked to where BJ was sitting, kissed him goodbye, said goodbye to Hawkeye and Margaret and walked towards the door, but stopped at it. She turned to her husband "You guys are starting wedding plans today, right?"  
  
BJ nodded  
  
"OK, I'm taking a half day today to help"  
  
"Oh, you don't have to" responded Margaret quickly, making Peg smile  
  
"I want to"  
  
"You're leaving Erin at Anna's today, right?" asked BJ  
  
"Well, we did promise them a play date ages ago and we'll get more done with her out of the way" nodded Peg and then walked out the door, leaving the group to start to plan Hawkeye's and Margaret's wedding. ************************************************************************  
"OK" said BJ "we need to plan what is needed for a wedding." "What, you don't have all that in your head?" asked Hawkeye in mock disbelief.  
  
"Nah. Too much to remember." BJ responded  
  
"We should write this down." suggested Margaret and picked up a pen. Ten minutes later the three had a sheet of paper that looked like this:  
  
1. Place for ceremony 2. Place for reception 3. Flowers 4. Food/cake 5. Priest 6 Wedding party 7. Dresses/Tuxes 8. Guest list/invitations 9. Time/date 10. Rings 11. Hotel for guests 12. Bride/Groom (Hawkeye stole the pen. "Oh Pierce, can't you be serious just once!" cried Margaret as she crossed it out)  
  
"I think that's it" said BJ. He took the list from Margaret and read out loud "Place for reception" he looked at Hawkeye and Margaret  
  
Hawkeye stared back at him "How do we know? We don't live here"  
  
BJ looked back down at the list "Good point. We'll go reception and ceremony place hunting later. Number three: Flowers.ok, we'll do that later too. Same with food and cake. Priest-Father Mulcahy. I doubt he'll say no to you two. Even with." he trailed off  
  
"With what?" Hawkeye and Margaret asked curiously  
  
"Can't say" said BJ mysteriously.  
  
"Why not?" asked Hawkeye  
  
"Because I promised him I wouldn't say anything to anybody about it and I'm not gonna go back on a promise I made, so let's just drop this OK?" BJ threw down the pen and started walking angrily to the other side of the room.  
  
"Look, Beej," started Hawkeye "we don't want you to go back on a promise you made to him, but we're friends with Father Mulcahy too. If something's wrong, even if it was years ago, we want to know about it. You can't just dismiss it like it's nothing. Besides you probably made it before the war ended. That was years ago. This problem has probably been fixed by now."  
  
BJ walked back to the table and started to fiddle with the pen. "You're right, Hawk, I'm sorry I was so short with you, but if I make a confidence to anyone I don't tell about it, even if it was years ago. But, on the other hand, it was years ago and it has hopefully been fixed by now, so I'll tell you, just don't tell Father Mulcahy I told you, you know his left hook." BJ told the story of Father Mulcahy becoming partially deaf after hitting his head on a gate before the war ended.  
  
"Oh my God, that's terrible." whispered Margaret  
  
"How come you didn't tell anyone?" asked Hawkeye  
  
"Because he told me not to. He seemed so desperate.like he knew the orphans were the reason he was sent to Korea and he didn't want to leave until that task was over. He's smart he probably got help after he got back, right?" BJ continued desperately  
  
"I dunno, Beej." said Hawkeye slowly "no one's seen him since the war ended, for all we know, he's still in Korea wandering around, pretending to hear everything, never got any help and will have no hope in regaining his hearing."  
  
"It all makes sense now." whispered Margaret. BJ and Hawkeye looked at each other, then at Margaret  
  
"What makes sense?" asked Hawkeye  
  
"Don't you remember? That party we had before we left Korea.the one where we shared what we were all doing with our lives.don't you remember? Father Mulcahy said he had lately gotten interested in ministering to the deaf. I was wondering what that was all about and I meant to ask him, but I didn't get a chance that night and the next day with Klinger and Soon- Lee's wedding and then with everyone leaving and all the good-byes I didn't have time. Now I know."  
  
"I was wondering about that too" mused Hawkeye. "Now we know."  
  
They were silent for a few minutes. BJ still looked upset, so Hawkeye grabbed the paper from where it was under BJ's hands. He didn't notice.  
  
"Number five.best man." Hawkeye read off, mumbling "Well, that's easy. I already have my best man. Write Best Man-BJ Hunnicut, Beej." He shoved the paper back under BJ's hands and prodded him to write, making him smile. "And the groomsmen.ushers (whatever they're called)" continued Hawkeye "Trapper, Radar, Klinger and Charles."  
  
"Charles!" laughed BJ "Charles Winchester? Our resident snob. The most pompous arrogant man in the unit? You can't mean that Charles? Didn't know you liked him that much"  
  
"He might be all those things, but he's not a bad guy" defended Hawkeye "He helped us keep that Korean kid from being drafted that time, remember? He's helped us out. He was more fun to play jokes on than Frank because Charles would just play one back on us instead of whining like Frank did."  
  
"There is that. Charles isn't so bad once he allows himself to get to know you" BJ admitted and then grinned "You're right. He has helped us out. He was lots of help when he helped us steal Margaret's tent that time, remember, Hawk?" BJ grinned and ducked when he saw Margaret's hand come towards him to playfully slap him.  
  
Margaret gave up this and asked "Has anyone seen Charles since we left Korea? He came with me to the 8063rd to help close it up and I haven't seen him since."  
  
"I saw him once" volunteered Hawkeye.  
  
"When?" asked BJ, startled  
  
"Right after the war ended" started Hawkeye "Six months or so. I was sent to some meeting in Boston about a new medical procedure that some doctor had invented. I didn't know who was talking to us and was I in for a surprise when the man who stepped up to the podium was none other than our Charles. I went up to him after the meeting was over. He was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. We started talking and we went out to lunch. The first thing he told me was I would have to pay for myself, of course. I told him what everyone was up to and he told me stuff about his job. At the end we exchanged telephone numbers and went our separate ways. He's never called me and I've never called him, but I was shocked he'd actually admitted he knew me, granted we went to a restaurant he'd said he never tried before and his friends never went there, but he talked to me in front of a few people from Massachusetts General."  
  
"That was friendly." admitted BJ.  
  
"You must have caught him on a good day." added Margaret  
  
BJ went back to the list then "OK, Margaret, what about your side?"  
  
"Um.Maid of Honor.I don't know, I'll get back to you. Bridesmaids, Patty, Soon-Lee, my cousin Leslie and.um." she said. "My other cousin, Annette" she said finally  
  
"OK.let me write it down." BJ mumbled "OK, next dresses and tuxes. Tuxes we can rent from this place from down the street, we rented 'em there for Peg and my wedding. Dresses."  
  
"I want Klinger to make the dresses" Margaret interrupted suddenly. BJ and Hawkeye stared at each other.  
  
"Klinger?" asked BJ "Max Klinger?"  
  
"Yes. He makes dresses. I want him to make mine." "Um.Margaret, Klinger lives in Toledo." said Hawkeye "I don't know much about weddings, but I do know that when someone has a wedding dress made for her they need to have many fittings and with Klinger in Toledo and you here, I don't foresee many fittings in your future, which means if he does agree to make the dress, it might not fit right. Right, Beej?"  
  
"He's got a point, Margaret" BJ put in  
  
"I could tell him my size. He could make it and he fix it when he comes down for the wedding." suggested Margaret eagerly  
  
"That could work" murmured BJ. He put pen to paper and wrote it down  
  
"I'll call him later." said Margaret "And then I'll talk to Soon-Lee and ask her to be a bridesmaid and you can ask him to be a groomsman." said Margaret.  
  
"OK next" said BJ "Guest List & Invitations."  
  
"Who do we want to invite?" asked Hawkeye "Um.Colonel and Mrs. Potter, my dad, Margaret's mom and dad..."  
  
"No, we can't invite my father!" interrupted Margaret suddenly "Why?"  
  
"Because.he died 2 months after the war ended"  
  
"He died?" said Hawkeye in disbelief "Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"Never came up in conversation." Margaret said sarcastically  
  
"Now don't be smart with me!" yelled Hawkeye "Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"I don't know. I just didn't."  
  
"I'm sorry" said Hawkeye. He got up and wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"It's all right." Margaret smiled "We actually weren't all that close. Not as close as you and your father are, Hawkeye. I can think of other people I would rather have walk me down the aisle"  
  
"Like who?" smiled Hawkeye, thinking he knew who she was going to say  
  
"Colonel Potter for one. Yes! That's it Colonel Potter will walk me down the aisle! Write that down, BJ!"  
  
"You got it" smiled BJ  
  
"Back to the guest list" said Hawkeye, returning to his seat "Radar's mom, Charles' parents and sister, Sidney Freeman, Scully."  
  
"I don't know about Scully" said Margaret .  
  
"Scully's my friend, I want him at my wedding" insisted Hawkeye and continued "Who else." he started to laugh  
  
"What?" asked BJ  
  
"Here's a gas.Frank Burns."  
  
"You want Frank at your wedding?" laughed BJ  
  
"I definitely draw the line at Frank Burns!" yelled Margaret "Scully is bad enough. Just add Donald Penobscott and you'll be having a convention of my old boyfriends"  
  
"No to have a convention of your old boyfriends we'd have to invite half the colonels and generals in the Korean War, living and dead..." Hawkeye waved his hand impatiently "I'm serious, let's invite Frank. We can blot out my name on the invitation and he won't know who you're marrying till he gets here. Finding out you're marrying me will drive him crazy. Or crazier as the case may be."  
  
BJ burst out laughing "That's cruel.that's devious.that's just plain rotten.Do it!"  
  
Hawkeye turned to Margaret with a pouty look on his face "Please, Margaret.please let me torture Frank.please"  
  
"Oh all right. God knows he deserves it."  
  
"Thank you.add that to the list, Beej, Frank Burns and family." Hawkeye and Margaret added a few dozen or so relatives, each. When they were done, the total people invited to the wedding came up to exactly 50. "Ah." said Hawkeye "invited to the wedding are 50 of our closet friends, family and enemies."  
  
"What are you going to do about invitations?" asked BJ  
  
"I can do calligraphy." volunteered Margaret  
  
"Invitations-Margaret" wrote BJ "Next, Date and time"  
  
"Well, we want it before we leave and we want to have as much time as possible to plan so. how about two or so weeks.a Sunday. " he grabbed a calendar and after a minute jabbed a date on it with is index finger "May 5th, 2:00PM" grinned Hawkeye  
  
"How precise of you." noted BJ "Howdja come up with that?"  
  
"Well we're leaving in two weeks on the 6th that's a Monday. The 5th is a Sunday, and it gives us two weeks to plan everything. And all the weddings I've been to have started at 1:00, but I like to be different so let's make it 2:00PM." he answered smugly  
  
"Sounds good to me" said Margaret "What's next?"  
  
BJ checked the list "Rings and I can answer that one. The groom customarily picks out the ring."  
  
"Hey, Beej, can ya help me there?" asked Hawkeye, somewhat embarrassedly.  
  
BJ smiled "I'd be glad to."  
  
Hawkeye smiled back "Thanks. Are we close to the end of the list?"  
  
BJ glanced down "Besides, Number Thirteen: Bride and Groom, which I'm nearly positive we have, all we have left is hotel for the guests. I think the best one is the Ritz Carlton down the road."  
  
"So we're done?" asked Hawkeye excitedly  
  
"Yep" answered BJ "What we have to do now is go look for a ring."  
  
"Now?" asked Hawkeye, all the excitement of the wedding planning being over gone.  
  
"Yeah we can do it while Margaret is calling Klinger and doing the invitations" BJ said, which made Hawkeye remember something  
  
"Margaret" he said "If you're calling Klinger while I'm gone, don't tell him who you're marrying."  
  
"Why?" asked Margaret suspiciously  
  
"Because I haven't messed with his head in a long time. He's overdue" smirked Hawkeye wickedly.  
  
"Ooh, you're awful" said Margaret.  
  
"Thank you".  
  
"What do I tell him when he asks and you know he will ask".  
  
"Of course he will. Just pretend you didn't hear him and if he asks again say it's a bad connection or something" shrugged Hawkeye.  
  
"OK" said BJ ""Peg will take you around looking for places later, Margaret. So for now, you can call Klinger about the dresses. And Hawkeye and I will go to look for rings." He yelled the last part loudly, so Hawkeye, who was creeping out of the room, could hear. 


	9. Hawkeye the Wedding Planner

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I had a hard time thinking for a title for this chapter (if it doesn't make sense, I'm sorry. I just really want to get this chapter up because I feel really bad I haven't updated in a while and I'm not sure the next time I'll have a chance) and then school started and I've been really busy with all that, and this is the first time I've been online since school started.  
  
Disclaimer: Yay! I actually have something to disclaim for a change! Sadly, it's only a one time, pointless jewelry store owner named Jake Hanaway, who is making a cameo appearance. I also invented a jewelry store named Mill Valley Jewls. If anyone wants to borrow either (though if you do, I will again refer you to Sidney Freeman), just contact me.  
  
In other news, I realized as I was typing the above disclaimer that last chapter, I forgot to thank the people who reviewed the chapter before. Sorry! Thanks to all who reviewed for.er.well, thanks to anyone who reviewed any chapter. I really appreciate it. I know I say that everywhere, but I really do, so thanks! ( And without further ado, here's Chapter 9 of 'Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells- 'Hawkeye the Wedding Planner' ************************************************************************ Twenty minutes later, Hawkeye and BJ were pulling out of the driveway, while Margaret was waving goodbye from the back stoop. "Where are we headed?" asked Hawkeye, turning to his best friend.  
  
"There's this place in the heart of the city that sells the best rings. I got mine and Peg's there."  
  
Hawkeye gave no response to this. BJ looked over at Hawkeye, who was looking embarrassed, which prompted BJ's question "Hawk, what's the matter? You look overwhelmed."  
  
"I am" Hawkeye admitted, rather sheepishly "I feel really stupid because I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm being a hindrance rather than a help. And because I have no idea what I'm doing, so I'm doing my usual, making lame jokes to make me feel better. There I go again, hiding behind my jokes. This is my wedding and I'm not doing a dammed thing to help plan it because I have no clue how to go about it and I feel STUPID! I have to ask for HELP on everything! How come you know what to do and I don't? Did I miss that day in Being-a-Human-Being School? I can't even pick out a ring myself! I have to ask help from YOU and no offense, but you since you seem better at creating weddings then I am, I assume you didn't need any help at all for yours!" he ranted.  
  
"Is that all that is the matter?" asked BJ smiling  
  
"Yeah and why the hell are you smiling?"  
  
"Who's smiling? No one's born with the ability to plan weddings, Hawk" started BJ "I needed help myself.yes, me, the wedding planner extroardanair but I'm not as good with weddings as you think I am. I asked my parents and Peg's parents for help and I'm sure they asked their parents and on and on. Some people call wedding planners, but I think that's not as personal as having a loved one help plan it, but the ones who actually contribute the most are the bride and groom, even if they think they know nothing."  
  
"Then my wedding must be personal then" mused Hawkeye, making BJ smile. "Really," Hawkeye continued "I'm not the only one who doesn't know anything about weddings?"  
  
BJ grinned "No, Hawk, you're not the only one"  
  
The rest of the trip, Hawkeye and BJ talked about their lives and the still that had given them the god-awful martinis that they drunk religiously every day while they were in Korea. The conversation was only interrupted when BJ said "We're here".  
  
Hawkeye stopped talking and looked at the store in front of him. It reminded him of a jewelry store in Crabapple Cove. It reminded him of basically every jewelry store he had ever seen for that matter. A typical jewelry store, Mill Valley Jewls had a glass window stretching across the whole front of the store except where the door was, but that was glass too, so you couldn't really tell the difference. When they entered the store, Hawkeye could see glass counters around three of the walls, the fourth wall, of course being the outside wall. Hawkeye could see a thin balding man with wire rimmed glasses behind the counter on the left-hand wall helping a couple find a diamond necklace for the woman.  
  
"OK wedding rings are easy, just find a pair you like put an inscription in it if you like." BJ assured as they walked into the store a couple of minutes later.  
  
Suddenly, the man that had been behind the counter materialized in front of them. "Excuse me, gentlemen, I didn't mean to overhear, but I thought I heard 'wedding rings' mentioned. Are one of you in the market for a wedding ring?"  
  
"Well I was planning on having a wedding and I had a thought that rings would make it better" spoke up Hawkeye sarcastically.  
  
If the storekeeper found any of that statement odd he didn't let on. Instead he said "Well I'm glad you picked my store to buy you and the betrothed a memory to last you a lifetime. The wedding rings are on the right hand of the store. My name is Jake Hanaway and I'll be glad to help if you or your friend have any questions" he walked away, trying to be smooth, but failing when he tripped over a bump in the carpet. He laughed it off rather shakily and went through a door neither Hawkeye or BJ had noticed before.  
  
Hawkeye and BJ stared at each other and Hawkeye said "Well, shall we start the hunt, then?" BJ nodded and they split up to start looking for the perfect ring.  
  
BJ looked up a few times to point out one to Hawkeye, but he always said the same thing; "Maybe. Let's just look a bit more." He had realized in the car after BJ had told him no one was born with the ability to plan weddings that he could do this by himself and BJ was along more for moral support then to help. Hawkeye knew that he had to do this by himself. Hawkeye was looking in the last display case when he saw it. Margaret had said herself once that she liked simple rings, nothing too fancy and Hawkeye knew she would like this one. The ring was a simple gold band with four diamonds evenly spaced along the sides of the ring, two on each side. He could see inside and saw the diamonds were only on the outside, not the inside. Hawkeye knew this ring had to be his. Had to be Margaret's.  
  
"Hey Beej, come here, look at this!" Hawkeye yelled excitedly.  
  
BJ came over and let out a low whistle when Hawkeye showed him the ring "Whoa, Hawk that's a nice ring. Let's call the owner. um.Mr.uh.Hanaway.Mr. Hanaway."  
  
Mr. Hanaway breezed in "Yes, sir?" he said  
  
"My friend's interested in this ring" BJ said. Mr. Hanaway squatted down on the other side of the counter from Hawkeye and BJ, looked at the ring Hawkeye was pointing out, took it out, stood up, and gave it to Hawkeye to look at closer.  
  
"Ah, your friend has good taste. My rings are one of a kind. Many people have looked at this ring but none have bought it."  
  
"Why?" asked Hawkeye curiously, dreading what he already knew he was going to hear  
  
"Because" the storekeeper said "because it costs $500 for the pair". Hawkeye and BJ gaped at each other and at the storekeeper  
  
"$500" repeated BJ "well, I guess it makes sense. It is a beautiful ring, right Hawk? Hawk?"  
  
Hawkeye hadn't been paying attention to a word BJ had said. Ever since Mr. Hanaway had told him the price, he had been turning the ring over and over in his hands. And over and over and. "I'll take it" said Hawkeye firmly, interrupting the turning over of the ring in his hands.  
  
BJ looked at him in shock "Hawk, are you serious? It's $500! You don't have that kind of money, do you?"  
  
"I've been saving up, not for a ring in general, just for anything since I turned 20." Hawkeye answered. "Besides, Margaret's worth it. I'll take it"  
  
"Are you sure, sir?" asked Mr. Hanaway, making Hawkeye cringe, like he always did when he was addressed as 'sir'.  
  
"Yes"  
  
"You had better be positive because there's no refunds"  
  
"Positive. And can I have an inscription in it?" asked Hawkeye  
  
"Of course" said the storekeeper "What would you like it to say?"  
  
"Um." said Hawkeye thoughtfully "I want it to say 'BFP loves MEH forever 5/5/1956'  
  
BJ smiled and the storekeeper stuck the pencil that he had been writing with behind his ear and said "Yes, we can do that".  
  
Hawkeye and Mr. Hanaway discussed payment for a few minutes and then when they were done, Hawkeye and BJ were bowed from the shop by Mr. Hanaway, who had a "Good day, gentlemen" on his lips.  
  
Hawkeye was thinking about the rings as he walked. He knew he had gotten the right ones. "Margaret's gonna love them" he whispered. BJ smiled "They're beautiful rings, why wouldn't she like them? And you thought you knew nothing about planning a wedding." 


	10. Questions that Couldn't be Asked

Margaret waved BJ and Hawkeye off with a huge grin on her face. She hadn't been able to wipe off that smile ever since Hawkeye had proposed three weeks ago. She was so happy. Margaret gave herself a little shake. It was almost 11:00 and she had a few things to do before Peg came home to bring her out to look at locations for the wedding and reception. She closed the door and walked back over to the kitchen table. She picked up the invitation that she had written from the table where she had put it down to watch Hawkeye and BJ leave a few minutes ago and the maniac grin was back. That was her wedding invitation. Her wedding invitation. She still couldn't believe she was getting married. She shook herself again and reprimanded herself for daydreaming. Margaret went to her room to get her address book, that had the home and work address for nearly everyone she knew. 'K.Klinger.Klinger Collections.' She thought to herself, running her finger down the column. She picked up the phone and dialed.  
  
Soon enough a very familiar voice sang "Hello, Klinger Collections, how may I help you?" happily.  
  
Margaret grinned "Klinger! It's Maj.I mean Margaret Houlihan.how are you?"  
  
"Major Houlihan?" asked the Lebanese, as if he was thoroughly unconvinced it was her "Is that you?"  
  
"Yes, Klinger, it's me" she laughed "And it's Margaret now. The war's over and I'm not even in the Army anymore, so I'm no longer and don't want to be referred to as 'Major' ever again and that's an order!"  
  
Klinger laughed on the other end of the line "Major.I mean Margaret Houlihan, it is you!"  
  
"Who would be trying to pass themselves off as me?"  
  
"I have no idea" laughed the Lebanese again, but he grew serious. "I hate to be rude, but since I assume this is a personal call and I'd love to chat with you, but I've got the final fitting of the bride for a wedding that's going to be tomorrow, so I'd have to ask if you would call me at home later."  
  
"Actually, Klinger, this isn't a personal call. I'm getting married in two weeks and I'd like you to make the dress."  
  
"You're getting married!" said Klinger "Congratulations!"  
  
"Thank you"  
  
"But I'm sorry, I can't make the dress"  
  
"Why not?" asked Margaret, in her old 'Major Houlihan' voice, thinking she could convince Klinger to make the dress the way she could get him to do anything in the war. And if that didn't work, the other way, bribery. The voice didn't do anything.  
  
"I'm sorry, Major" said Klinger, in the tone he used to use when she would try to make him do something and he couldn't do it. "Making a dress isn't as easy as it sounds. It takes a lot of work and fittings. I could probably do it in that amount of time, if you were here in Toledo, but since I doubt you're at the hotel down the street, I can't do it, unless you want it to look like you're wearing a bag. Then I could do it"  
  
"What if I gave you the measurements? Then would you be able to make it?" asked Margaret desperately  
  
"Maybe." said Klinger slowly  
  
"And you could do fittings when you get here for the wedding"  
  
"Well, I hope I'd be invited" laughed Klinger "Sure, I'll do it. Anything for you, Major"  
  
"Margaret"  
  
"Right, Margaret" laughed Klinger  
  
"And could you do the maid of honor, bridesmaids, and flower girl dresses too, Klinger?" she asked  
  
"Sure, Major.Margaret.it's gonna take me a while to get used to that" he admitted.  
  
"It's gonna take you a while." laughed Margaret ".think about how long it's gonna take Radar!" The two laughed about that for awhile. Then Margaret gave Klinger the sizes of the dresses, using a laundry basket that she found in the Hunnicut's kitchen for some of them.  
  
After she finished, Klinger said "I still can't believe you're getting married, Margaret!" "Neither can I!" she laughed  
  
"I sure hope it doesn't turn out like the last one"  
  
"Thanks, Klinger, me too"  
  
"So, who's the lucky guy that stole the heart of our dear head nurse?" Klinger teased.  
  
"What?" asked Margaret, getting nervous  
  
"I said, who's the lucky guy who stole the heart of our dear head nurse?" he repeated.  
  
"What about a purse?" she said, thinking fast.  
  
"I didn't say anything about a purse" said Klinger, confused. "I said."  
  
"Klinger, I can barely hear you" yelled Margaret "You're breaking up! I'm gonna lose you in a minute!"  
  
"My end's fine" protested Klinger  
  
"I heard that. Your end might be fine, but mine's lousy. You'll get a formal invitation in the mail in a few days! I'll call you later with more information! I'm just about to lose you! Goodbye Klinger! And thank you!" she said very quickly as she hung up the phone. Margaret burst out laughing. She couldn't wait to be able to explain that to Klinger. She put her address book away and returned to the kitchen. Her eyes fell on the laundry basket she had used for the two of the dress sizes. One being Erin's. The other being Peg's. She wanted Peg to be her matron of honor, but she didn't know how to go about asking her. She hadn't told anyone about wanting Peg to be matron of honor. Not even Hawkeye. Of course she hadn't said anything when she, Hawkeye, and BJ had been planning the wedding earlier, because.well because she was embarrassed. Embarrassed because she knew what people would say 'Peg? Why Peg? You just met her yesterday.' It was true she had just met her yesterday, but BJ used to talk about her nonstop. When Margaret first met Peg, she was so familiar, from what Margaret had heard about her, she had felt like she had known her for years. But how to ask her.  
  
Before Margaret could ponder this more, the door opened and Peg came through it. "Hi Margaret" smiled the other woman  
  
"Hi Peg" she smiled back  
  
"How goes the wedding plans?" Peg asked  
  
"Really well. We've got most of it planned out. We made a list." Margaret pointed to the list that was still sitting on the table, forgotten. Peg picked it up and read it over.  
  
She put it down and asked "What can I do to help?"  
  
"Well, we're supposed to go look for a place for the wedding and the reception" answered Margaret  
  
"OK, just give me a minute to change out of my work clothes"  
  
"Take your time".  
  
Peg towards the corridor that would take her to her room when she stopped short.  
  
"I just realized something. It's quiet. Too quiet. Where are the guys?" Margaret laughed "They went ring shopping"  
  
Peg laughed too "I should have known they were out. It's never this quiet in the house when Hawkeye Pierce and BJ Hunnicut are together. ************************************************************************  
Margaret Houlihan and Peg Hunnicut left the house ten minutes later. "So what do we have to do?" Peg asked when they were sitting in the car.  
  
"Looking for the perfect place for the ceremony and the reception" Margaret answered promptly "I'd also like to at least start thinking about the food and the cake, but if we don't have time, we can do it tomorrow".  
  
"OK then" said Peg "I have a few places in mind for the ceremony, but the reception, I have no idea".  
  
Margaret smiled "Great! Let's start looking!" Peg pulled out of the driveway and started driving.  
  
There was silence in the car. Margaret knew what she wanted to say and she was opening her mouth to say it, but what came out instead was "So, where's Erin?"  
  
"At her best friend Anna's" Peg answered "Anna's mother and I set up a playdate for the two of them days ago". Margaret smiled and became furious with herself for not saying what she meant to say. Why couldn't she ask Peg to be her maid of honor? Was she afraid? Her. Margaret Houlihan.afraid? 'A Houlihan's not afraid of anything' Margaret said to herself firmly. But why was she scared? Scared Peg would turn her down? Scared Peg would become embarrassed that a stranger had asked her to do something so personal? It was true she and Peg had just met, but she was so friendly to her. It didn't feel like they had just met. She felt like she had known Peg Hunnicut as long as she had known her husband. For a brief moment, Margaret felt envious of Hawkeye. Hawkeye hadn't had to worry about BJ not accepting Hawkeye's proposal of being best man. There hadn't been any doubt in Hawkeye's mind that BJ wouldn't say yes. They were best friends. As close as brothers. Hawkeye had known BJ would say yes in an instant. Margaret wasn't as sure Peg would say yes. Though Margaret felt like she had known Peg forever, she didn't know if Peg felt the same. 'The only way to know if she will say yes is to ask' Margaret told herself and opened her mouth to ask Peg the question when Peg interrupted  
  
"Here we are, the first place I had in mind. It's a little place called The Gardens"  
  
Margaret closed her mouth, but opened it again, this time in awe when she first looked over The Gardens. "It's beautiful" she said and looked at it more. It was a pretty good sized area. The grass was neatly and newly trimmed. There were many different kinds of flowers here. Chrysanthemums, daffodils, tulips, sunflowers, and even some Margaret didn't know the names of! The area was treeless, except on the far side of the grounds where there were two trees six feet away from each other. "There" said Margaret suddenly "Between those trees. That's where Hawkeye and I will stand!"  
  
Peg laughed "Guess you like it, huh?"  
  
Margaret smiled at the woman "Yes, I love it. It's so beautiful here. Here is where I want to get married". They looked at a few more spots, but none of which Margaret liked as much as the small area called The Gardens.  
  
"Now what?" asked Peg in the parking lot of the last area they were considering.  
  
"A place for the reception" said Margaret  
  
"Where are you putting the guests?" Peg asked  
  
"BJ suggested the Ritz Carlton"  
  
"That's a nice hotel" mused Peg "Maybe you could have the reception there"  
  
"That's a good idea" said Margaret "could we go now and check it out?"  
  
Peg smiled "Sure".  
  
The two drove to the hotel. The Ritz Carlton was a normal hotel. Very tall with at least ten floors and a sign out front advertising the 5-foot deep Olympic swimming pool and the Jacuzzi. Margaret and Peg went in. Margaret talked to the manager about having her wedding reception there and at the same time, reserved a suite for the guests. He agreed to both and said to call when all the guests had responded so he could know how many rooms to reserve and which one of their large banquet rooms to use for the reception, as some were smaller than others. Before either of them knew it, the manager was ushering them out of the hotel and all of the things they needed to discuss with him had been completed.  
  
"That took less time then I thought it would" said Peg, as they were getting back into the car  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Margaret  
  
"I actually thought the manager wouldn't let you use his hotel because it was short notice" admitted Peg.  
  
Margaret laughed "I thought the same thing! But on the other hand, the hotel doesn't look that busy, so I think he was probably glad for the business"  
  
Peg laughed too "Probably" she turned on the car and gasped when she noticed what time it was "Look at the time! It's almost 6:00! We have to get home!" "Hawkeye and BJ are probably wondering where we are" agreed Margaret. The two women drove home, stopping at Anna Jenkins' house to pick up Erin. The whole trip took such a short time, Margaret didn't have time to think about the thing that had been nagging at the back of her head the whole afternoon. All of a sudden Peg was driving the car into the Hunnicut driveway and Erin was jumping out and running into the house. Suddenly, Margaret noticed Peg starting to get out of the car. The time had come. 'It's now or never, Houlihan' Margaret told herself, mainly to make herself do it  
  
"Peg" she said, before she had a chance to think about it. Peg turned and Margaret started talking before she could reconsider "I know we just met and all, but I feel like I've known you for years." Margaret started.  
  
"Yes I feel like I've known you forever after all BJ has told me" agreed Peg.  
  
"I was wondering if you would consider being my matron of honor" said Margaret.  
  
"Oh Margaret" whispered Peg in awe "I'd love to be your matron of honor. But wouldn't you want someone you knew better?"  
  
Margaret snorted "I was an army brat for most of my life. I spent my childhood moving around from place to place. I was always afraid to get to friendly with anyone because I was afraid of getting hurt. So from the time I was around thirteen to about four years ago I put on this hard outer shell that no one could penetrate unless I let them in and in those years, I only let one person in it. I was mean to everyone else. I was awful that first year in the war. Just ask Hawkeye. I was horrible and ordered everyone around and used my rank as a shield. I used it as protection, because all my life I had seen everyone else do it. I had grown up watching army officers make people do what they wanted them to do and I when I was older I thought that was the way to get anything done. I went to Korea thinking just that and made life hell for everyone around me. I saw a lot of my childhood friends and they didn't like what they saw, so half of them stopped being friends. The other half I've lost touch with. Then my oldest friend came to the 4077th. She told me to stop hiding behind my rank and start making friends with the people around me or I'd make myself and others miserable. So I did just that. I started to become closer to everyone. Hawkeye, BJ, Charles Winchester.those three really helped me break out of my shell. But no matter how many friends I make, it will never make up for the friends I lost. What I'm trying to say is I made myself lose a lot of friends that meant a lot to me. I don't have many.any close woman friends actually left over from my childhood and even if I did, I wouldn't want any of them because they were a part of me that is long gone. The Army brat part of me. I'm not an Army brat anymore. I want to open a new part of my life that mirrors the woman I am now. I'd like it if you'd be my matron of honor, Peg"  
  
"I'd love to be your matron of honor, Margaret" whispered Peg "Matron.ugh.that sounds old, doesn't it?" she laughed.  
  
Margaret laughed "Yeah it does".  
  
The two women laughed for a few minutes until Margaret said "You know, we'd better get inside before the guys think we were kidnapped or something"  
  
"Good idea". The two women left the dark outside to enter the bright kitchen ************************************************************************ "Where were you? We were starting to think you two had been kidnapped or something" said Hawkeye anxiously rushing over to Margaret and Peg, who had just entered the house. BJ was close on his heels. When Hawkeye said this, Margaret and Peg looked at each other and burst into laughter.  
  
BJ looked back and forth between the two of them "Are Hawkeye and I that annoying when we know something you don't?" he asked.  
  
"I was talking to Peg outside and I said to her we'd better come inside or you would start to think we were kidnapped or something" she choked out in between laughter Hawkeye and BJ laughed too. Peg and Margaret made dinner and the five of them were soon sitting down to dinner  
  
"So what did you two find out?" asked Hawkeye, around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.  
  
"Well, the place I liked best for the reception was this place Peg showed me called The Gardens. It's very beautiful there" said Margaret  
  
"The Gardens?" mused Hawkeye "Sounds nice"  
  
"You've been there before. Remember, last time you were down we took Erin there to play" BJ reminded Hawkeye  
  
"Oh yeah" remembered Hawkeye  
  
"I remember that. Mommy was sick and you took me there cuz I was bothering her" laughed Erin.  
  
"That's right" BJ smiled at his daughter.  
  
"What about the reception?" asked Hawkeye.  
  
"We're going to have it at the hotel we're putting the guests in" answered Margaret "I reserved a suite while we were there"  
  
"But we don't know how many people are coming"  
  
"The manager said I could call him when we know how many people there will be. I thought it would be wise to reserve the suite now so we would be guaranteed to have it for the wedding" Hawkeye smiled at his fiancee "That was a good idea"  
  
Margaret smiled back "Thank you".  
  
BJ pushed his empty plate to the side and picked up the list he, Hawkeye, and Margaret had made earlier that day "OK, so the ceremony and reception are taken care of. What about the food?"  
  
"It's just going to be a simple filet minion or chicken co' don bleu thing" answered Margaret promptly.  
  
Hawkeye rolled his eyes "Yep, that's simple all right"  
  
"What about the side dishes?"  
  
"Mixed vegetables and roasted potatoes with chives"  
  
"How much is this going to cost?" asked Hawkeye  
  
"$500"  
  
"Oi vai" mumbled Hawkeye.  
  
"What about cake?" asked BJ  
  
"Marble cake with vanilla frosting" answered Margaret promptly.  
  
"Flowers?"  
  
"We're going to do that tomorrow"  
  
"Did you call Klinger?"  
  
"Yes, he'll do it"  
  
"Have you found a maid of honor yet?"  
  
"Matron of honor and it's Peg"  
  
"I like that idea."  
  
"I thought you would"  
  
"Did you fill in the invitations with the new information?"  
  
"Haven't gotten there yet"  
  
"Oh right" BJ reminded himself and looked back down at the list. "OK, Hawk and I got the rings and I assume no one's called Father Mulcahy yet, so all we have to do tomorrow is get flowers, write and send out invitations, and call Father Mulcahy"  
  
"More like track down Father Mulcahy. No one knows where he is" Hawkeye pointed out  
  
"Maybe the Army could help" mused Margaret  
  
"Trust Margaret to think of the Army first" teased Hawkeye  
  
"Shut up, Pierce. The Army keeps track of everyone that has ever been in their service for the next two years after they leave. So, if we call them, we can find out what he's done since leaving the Army and work from there" said Margaret.  
  
"That's a good idea" said BJ "Margaret, maybe you should do it tomorrow since you're the one with the best ties to the Army".  
  
"And also because I'm not on speaking terms with the Army until they apologize for sending me to that upholstered toilet and even if they do, I'm not sure if I'll accept" joked Hawkeye. ************************************************************************  
  
A/N: Well, there's another chapter. Sorry it's taking so long to update. I've been busy with school and I just started a new job, so life's been a little hectic. I won't be updating as much as I was during the summer, but I'll do it as often as I can. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Your reviews help me fine tune the upcoming chapters and I appreciate it a lot. Speaking of reviews, Someone told me I should get a beta. Any suggestions? Anyone willing to do that for me, if you think I need it? If anyone's interested e-mail me at the e-mail address in my profile. I'd really appreciate it. And (time for the bribe) you (the person who wants the job, that is) get sneak peaks at upcoming chapters of 'Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells' Thanks again to all the reviewers! Hope you enjoy the rest of the story! -AEM 


	11. Contrary to Popular Belief, the Army Doe...

*YAAAAH!!! Sorry about the long wait between chapters. My life's been insane, but I think it's going to be a little less insane once I finish this up with some projects.  
  
Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for a beta! I appreciate the responses a lot! As much as I would like to have anyone who expressed interest get the job, that would be really confusing, so I had to pick Mirandabelle. So, special thanks goes to her for doing this for me, and another thank you goes to anyone who wanted the job!  
  
Get well wishes goes to the one and only Alan Alda, without whom M*A*S*H; the reason we are all assembled here today; might not have been as great (it still would have been good, though) who had to get an emergency appendectomy a few weeks ago. And without further ado. . .*  
  
Mill Valley, California Saturday, April 23, 1956 9:00 AM  
  
"It's gotta be in here somewhere. . . " mumbled BJ, flipping through the phone book.  
  
"Does the Army even have a phone number?" joked Hawkeye from where he was lying on the couch, in his old red robe, eating a banana.  
  
"Your guess is as good as mine. . . " BJ muttered, then threw the phone book down onto a chair "Oh, this is hopeless! What would we say anyway? Hi, we're looking up a priest that was in the Army, but may or may not be in the Army anymore, and no one's seen in three years and quite possibly could be in Korea still, but we're not sure. How stupid does that sound?"  
  
"Stupid." said Hawkeye, studying his banana intently.  
  
BJ rolled his eyes, "Oh, you're no help! All you've done is lie on the couch and make sarcastic remarks while I do all the work to help find Father Mulcahy for your wedding!"  
  
Hawkeye looked up at his friend then "Why should I knock myself out? You're working hard enough for the both of us."  
  
BJ picked up a pillow from the chair and threw it at Hawkeye, which he promptly threw back, and then grew into a full-blown pillow fight. A clearing of the throat from the door stopped the impromptu fight, BJ holding Hawkeye by the bathrobe with his left hand and about to hit him with a pillow with the right, while Hawkeye was reaching down to get a pillow from the couch. Margaret was there. She snapped into 'Major Houlihan' mode automatically "All right, enough! Didn't you idiots think to call information to ask for the Army's number? One of you do that while the other cleans up this mess. When you get the number, call me, I'll be in the kitchen" she left the room leaving Hawkeye and BJ in bewilderment. The next thing they heard was some muttering from the kitchen, ending with 'pillow fight' and then laughter. Hawkeye and BJ laughed too.  
  
Hawkeye started to clean up the pillows while BJ called information. Hawkeye had just finished when BJ said "Hold on one moment, please" over the phone. He covered up the speaker and told Hawkeye to get a piece of paper. Hawkeye returned with the paper and BJ wrote down a number that the person gave him.  
  
He hung up the phone. "Oh Margaret. . . " he sang and Margaret appeared, Peg right behind her. "Let's hope you still have those ties to the Army"  
  
"God knows I don't. . .muttered Hawkeye  
  
"Jealous?" Margaret said, eyes flashing happily. Margaret picked up the phone and dialed before Hawkeye could have the chance to say anything "It's ringing" mumbled Margaret "Hello.yes, General Clayton, please."  
  
Hawkeye grabbed BJ's shoulder and winced at the name "Oh no, not Clayton! He was the one that made us do that stupid movie that Trapper and I turned into 'Yankee Doodle Doctor', I told you about that, didn't I Beej?"  
  
Margaret waved her hand for silence "Hello. . . General Clayton, Margaret Houlihan. . . yes, Alvin's daughter. . . oh thank you, General, it was a tragic loss for us all. . . what, sir. . . yes, it is true, I did resign my commission. . . no. . . no. . . thank you. . . I don't want it back. . . yes, you told me at the time, since you were an. . . er. . . yes, a family friend you could pull some strings to get me back as a Major if I ever wanted back in, but I don't want to be in the Army. Civilian life is suiting me just fine, sir. Well, enough about me, I was wondering if you could do me a favor. . . what. . . no sir, not a sexual favor. . . yes, good joke, sir. . . I was wondering if you could help me in locating one of the soldiers from my old unit in the Korean War. . . yes, Father John Patrick Francis Mulcahy. . . rank Captain. . . yes, I'll hold. . . " Margaret covered the receiver.  
  
"Sexual favor? He's a dirty old General, isn't he?" smirked Hawkeye. Margaret only had time to roll her eyes before General Clayton came back on the line  
  
"What, sir? Yes. . . yes. . . yes . . . is that where he is now? All right, thank you General . . .excuse me, sir. . .oh I'm sorry, sir, I'm not in Washington DC, or plan on being there anytime soon, so I'm afraid we won't be able to. . . er. . . meet for lunch. . . yes. . . I know exactly what you mean" she said in a tired and uncomfortable voice "Well, I'm sorry, General, I have to be going. . . yes it was good to talk to you again too. . .thank you again, General. . . goodbye".  
  
"So, what's up? Where is he?" BJ asked anxiously  
  
"Well, we already knew Father Mulcahy had gone to the 8063rd like Charles and I did, but after that we didn't know. General Clayton said after that, he spent six months at Sister Theresa's orphanage. . . "  
  
"Damn it! He didn't get treatment for the deafness!" interrupted BJ angrily.  
  
Margaret smiled "Not so fast. Before he went to Sister Theresa's, he told the Army he was hard-of-hearing and a doctor at the hospital looked at him and got him a hearing aid!"  
  
"I knew he had more common sense then to leave it untreated!" yelled BJ happily.  
  
"Then what happened to him?" asked Hawkeye.  
  
"Well after the war, the Koreans all got reimbursed by the Army for damages, Sister Theresa's included, so they didn't need Father Mulcahy to get them supplies anymore, so he left Korea and the Army for Philadelphia and he's been there ever since."  
  
"Philadelphia!" said BJ in disbelief "He's been in Philadelphia for a year and no one knew!"  
  
"Apparently so." said Margaret.  
  
"Well, did the General give you an address or a telephone number or something?"  
  
"Both." answered Margaret. BJ and Peg walked out of the living room.  
  
Hawkeye and Margaret followed them, but Hawkeye stopped her before they left the living room and said very sarcastically "Boy, you have some obscene phone calls with General Clayton!" and left. Margaret left the room, too, rather puzzled.  
  
She entered the kitchen and asked Hawkeye "What did you mean by that? Obscene phone call. One, singular, not plural. I haven't talked to Clayton in years".  
  
Hawkeye smirked "Nothing, I was just remembering another obscene phone call you had with the General. At the 4077th. About dear, departed Captain Jonathan Tuttle".  
  
Margaret grew sad "Oh. . . poor man. . . he was so generous. He gave thousands of dollars worth of back pay he had to Sister Theresa's orphanage. He died going out to save a dying man in the field" she told BJ and Peg "jumped out of the plane without his parachute. . . wait a minute. . . Hawkeye. . . how did you know about the phone call? The only two people present were Frank and I."  
  
"Sometimes I doubt if he was even present in those days. . . " mused Hawkeye  
  
"Don't avoid the subject, Pierce!" said Margaret in the nicer version of her Major Houlihan voice "how did you know about the phone conversation I had with General Clayton?"  
  
Hawkeye smirked "Because you weren't talking to the General, darling. You were talking to me".  
  
Margaret stared at him "What do you mean? You can't send a phone wire back to where you are. Besides Radar told me he had gotten to I-Corps. . ."  
  
"You forget who Radar was allied with in those days, my dear. You see, Radar was the only one who knew the truth about Tuttle, besides for Trapper and me. He told me you were trying to call Clayton about Tuttle and of course, you couldn't do that so I decided to step in and tell you 'I', meaning General Clayton sent him. Radar called his friend at I-Corps, Sparky and told him he was going to make a phone call in a few minutes and to send it back to the 4077th. . . you see you can do that. . . "  
  
"But why go to all that trouble just to stop General Clayton from talking to me about Tuttle?"  
  
"Because General Clayton didn't send him to us. In fact no one did. I made him up."  
  
Margaret looked shocked at this "Hawkeye Pierce! What an awful thing to say about a brave hero like Jonathan Tuttle! How dare you speak ill of the dead!" She glared.  
  
Hawkeye smiled "But I did make Tuttle up, Margaret. You remember the reason you were calling Clayton was because you couldn't remember ever seeing him?"  
  
"Yes, but then Frank remembered eating dinner with him! And Henry remembered having lunch with him!" Margaret sputtered  
  
"But no one ate any meal with Tuttle!" laughed Hawkeye "Radar convinced Henry he had had lunch with him. And as for Frank, you know how his mind works. . . or how it doesn't work as the case may be. Anyway, Tuttle was my childhood imaginary friend when I was growing up. Whatever my parents accused me of doing I said Tuttle did, whether it was breaking a lamp or wetting the bed. So, when I joined the army, so did he. To make a long story short, Trapper and I were giving supplies to the orphans secretly and when Sister Theresa asked who was giving the supplies to them I said Captain Tuttle. Then she called Henry, you and Frank wanted to know who he was, so Trapper and I had to make a file on him and list his background and physical features. . . "  
  
"Physical features!" interrupted Margaret "You mean. . . you and Trapper. . . made that up and. . . there. . . there was no one that looked like that!"  
  
"Me mostly" Hawkeye laughed "and he was my imaginary friend, why couldn't I imagine him any way I wanted to?"  
  
"What was so thrilling about Tuttle's physical features?" Peg asked with a grin  
  
"I made him extremely good-looking" said Hawkeye "Auburn hair, green eyes, 6 feet tall.I did that because I knew it would arouse Margaret and it did!"  
  
Margaret blushed and Hawkeye continued, looking slyly at his fiancee "Are you mad that there never was a Tuttle and I made his extremely attractive body up?"  
  
"Margaret snorted "No of course not. The way I see it is life's too short to be mad at someone for a little joke if no one got hurt."  
  
"If only you saw that when we first met" Hawkeye muttered in an undertone. Everyone laughed and Margaret tried to swat him, but he ducked and she missed.  
  
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" laughed Hawkeye, running from Margaret's hand.  
  
Margaret gave up and said "I'm not mad you made up his physical features either. Why be sorry I don't have that extremely attractive man when I have one right here?"  
  
Hawkeye smiled and kissed her. "OK before this gets even more mushy then it already is, let's finish the invitations" BJ interrupted, knowing how long a kiss between Hawkeye and Margaret could last if no one interrupted them.  
  
Hawkeye pulled away from his bride-to-be "You really know how to spoil a mood, don't you, Hunnicut?" he joked  
  
"Oh, Hawkeye, BJ's right, we have the rest of our lives to enjoy each other, but we only have one wedding and the plans won't finish by themselves" chided Margaret.  
  
Hawkeye shook his head "Sensible Margaret. . . but of course, you're right as always. . . let's finish the invitations".  
  
Margaret, Hawkeye, BJ and Peg went to the table. Margaret filled in the information in the original invitation. BJ and Hawkeye said they would go to the post office while Peg and Margaret would go to the flower shop.  
  
************************************************************************  
An hour later, Hawkeye Pierce and BJ Hunnicut pulled into the parking lot of the post office. Erin Hunnicut was seated in the backseat. She had chosen to go with them rather than with Margaret and Peg because she knew going to the post office instead of the flower shop would get her home faster to play with her dollhouse. She handed Hawkeye the invitations that they had picked up from the printers just a few minutes ago. They were still warm.  
  
"There you go, Hawk, 50 invitations hot off the presses!" said BJ "This is your last chance to back out with your dignity intact".  
  
Hawkeye smiled at the invitations like they had reminded him of something very pleasant, which, in fact, they did "No" he said softly "I'm not backing out. This feels like the most right thing I've ever done in my life."  
  
"Good for you". BJ smiled.  
  
"Can I put them in the mailbox, Hawkeye?" interrupted Erin.  
  
Hawkeye turned around in his seat to face the 5-year-old "For my favorite flower girl, anything!" he smiled.  
  
Erin smiled too and put out her hands for the invitations, but Hawkeye withdrew them "One thing first". He flipped through the pile of invitations until he found the one he was looking for. He pulled it out. It was on the immediate bottom. The last one that had been printed. He pulled the invitation out of the envelope and looked quickly over the words. He ran his forefinger lightly over the two places where it said 'Pierce'.  
  
"Hawk! What the he. . . what are you doing?" yelled BJ "You just ruined a invitation!"  
  
"Can you read those words I blotted out?" he shoved the invitation into his best friend's face.  
  
"What. . . no. . . no I can't. . . but that's not the point, Hawk, you just smudged the words so no one can read it and. . . " BJ trailed off as Hawkeye showed him the envelope. It said 'Frank Burns & Family'. BJ understood immediately and his disapproving face grew into a grin that mirrored Hawkeye's. Erin on the other hand had no idea what they were smiling about and after what she had heard about their tricks, didn't want to know.  
  
Still smiling, Hawkeye handed the invitations to Erin wordlessly to mail. She jumped out of the car and grabbed a long stick that she found on the ground on the way to the mailbox. She opened the little slot door and put all 50 invitations into the tray. Erin poked the invitations down the slide with the stick and watched as all 50 of them fell down the seemingly bottomless hole. . . 


	12. Receiving the Invitations

A/N: Yes, boys and girls, I still exist. I am still living on this planet, I'm just lousy at updating. I feel horrible for taking so long! So I apologize for the really really really really long delay as does my dear beta Mirandabelle, whom I thank immensely for reviewing this for me. THANKS MIRANDABELLE, YOU'RE THE BEST! Between both of our computer problems, random schoolwork and going back and forth with this chapter ('tis a long one, folks, hope you're up to it) it's taken a while, I know and on behalf of Mirandabelle and myself, we are both really really really really. . . *trails off on a 'really' tangent*. . . sorry

Huge amounts of thanks go out to you reviewers. Your honest reviews mean a lot to me, so thanks! Especially to TakenHawkeye and OnlyHotlips4Hawkeye. Your reviews made my day! Actually, all of them do. And of course to my loyal followers who have been with me since the beginning. You know, I think I'll just go back to thanking everybody, again . . . Thanks for reading and reviewing! Well, enjoy the chapter and I'll see you again in two months. . . just kidding. 

-AEM

*Disclaimer: Let's see, what to disclaim today . . . well, as we all are aware, I have no claims whatsoever to anything M*A*S*H, but there are random people that were invented off the top of my head for random reasons and they're mine even though you won't see them anywhere else in the story, I doubt*
    
    **************************************************************************************

Hannibal, Missouri

Monday, April 25, 1956

10:00AM

Colonel Sherman Potter walked into his house. He had just come back from a house call to a family down the street called the Tanners, all of whom were down with the flu. Though he was semi-retired, he still made house calls, but they were never very often, and the simplicity of the cases were a welcome change from what he had seen during the Korean War. He had been right in the middle of it then. In the middle of the work . . . the war . . . the blood. . . he shook himself from his reverie. Thinking about the war always made him depressed and there was no right for him to be depressed since the war had been over for close to three years and all the blood was millions of miles and a lifetime ago. 

"Mildred, I'm home!" Colonel Potter called out to his wife and received no answer. "Mildred…" he tried again and still received no answer. Suddenly he noticed a note taped to the lampshade. "Now don't I feel stupid" he muttered to himself. He took the note off the lampshade and read:

************************************************************************

Dear Sherm,

Went to play cards. Will be back for lunch.

Love,

Mildred

************************************************************************

"Well that explains everything. . ."Colonel Potter murmured. He went to put the note down on the hall table and noticed the mail. "Hmmm, came early . . " he noted and started to sort through it. A coupleof bills . . . a card from Mildred's sister wishing him happy birthday, though it was 2 months ago ("Forgetful woman that one . . .") . . . a wedding invitation . . . 2 catalogs . . wait, a _wedding invitation_? Colonel Potter threw down the rest of the mail and opened the invitation. He scanned it and his face grew into a broad grin. "HOT DAMN!" Colonel Potter yelled and ran to the telephone.

************************************************************************

Ottumwa, Iowa

Monday, April 25, 1956
    
    10:00AM

Walter O'Reilly stood up from where he had been feeding the pigs and brushed the dirt off his knees. He took off his glasses and wiped the sweat off his face. He put them back on though when he heard someone calling his name. 

"Walt!" yelled his beautiful girlfriend Patty Hayes as she skidded into the barn, shoulder-length brown hair in braids and almost loosing her balance. 

"Watch it" smiled Walter, steadying her and lightly kissed her. He had changed a lot in the past few years. It had all started when he had returned home from Korea and found since his Uncle Ed was dead, he had to be the man of the house and couldn't be a kid any longer. It had been easy doing the farm work since he had always done most it because of his Uncle Ed's heart problem, but he hadn't counted on having a bad season in crops his first year. And he hadn't even expected to receive a telephone call from Patty, the girl he had met at the airport in Korea, who lived in Lancaster, Missouri. Soon, they were going on dates, and she was spending weekends at the O'Reilly farm. She had been spending so much time there, it was almost like she lived there. She had been at the O'Reilly's the night her farm burned down killing her parents a year ago and she had been living there ever since. She had her own room and he had his own room. Now, Walter O'Reilly was thinking seriously about asking her a question that if she answered positively, they would be sharing a room. 

"Walt?" questioned Patty, looking at her boyfriend. 

Walter shook himself out of his daydream. "Oh, sorry," 

"What were you thinking about?" 

"Nothing" he answered and asked, "What's the matter? You came in so fast, I thought something bad had happened". 

Patty laughed, "Oh, don't worry, nothing bad's happening. The mail came and this looked pretty important, so I decided to bring it out right away," she handed him a white envelope. 

He turned the envelope around and noticed his girlfriend's name on this "Patty, you coulda opened this. Your name's on it," 

Patty seated herself on a haystack. "I would have, but I could tell it was from one of your friends from Korea." 

"How could you tell?" 

"Well," she answered "For one thing, there's a stamp on it. You don't know anyone outside of Ottumwa besides them and if it was one of someone from Ottumwa, they would have dropped it off. Besides, it's addressed to 'Radar'" 

Walt turned the letter around again and laughed "Didn't even notice. Yup, Radar O'Reilly, Mrs. O'Reilly and Patty Hayes. Wonder what it is . . . whatever it is it looks important." 

"Open it already!" Patty prodded and he laughed 

"All right, I will. Wow, I've never got the mail delivered to me. Even when I was a kid, I had to go out to the mailbox to get it . . . all right, all right, I'll open it already!" he laughed, when Patty started to tickle him. He opened the letter neatly. After all, it did look important. He took the information out of it and while he was reading, his mouth formed a large O "HOLY COW!" he yelled. "We gotta go call!" he yelled and grabbed Patty from the haystack and nearly dragged her out of the barn. 

************************************************************************

Ft. Wayne, Indiana 

Tuesday, April 26, 1956

6:00 PM

"I'm home!" Frank Burns called out to his house. 

"Woo-hoo," said his oldest daughter, Jacqueline sarcastically from the stairs. She had hated her father for nearly all of her twenty-one years. Most of that hate had been drilled into her by a young age by her mother. Even if that hadn't happened, she wasn't sure if she would like him. She knew all about his affair during the Korean War, with that Margaret Houlihan lady, and who can respect a father who cheats on a mother? "Tiffany" Jacqueline called up to her younger sister, who was eighteen "Frank's home. Let's give a cheer" 

"Woo-hoo" called Tiffany. Jacqueline and Tiffany had been calling their father by his first name for as long as either of them could remember. Jacqueline went upstairs without another word. 

"Well, that was harsh," mumbled Frank to himself. Just then, his wife came into the living room. "Louise, where's the mail?" Frank asked. 

"The same place that it's been for the last 10 years!" Louise said angrily. 

"Well, I haven't been here for all of the last 10 years!" protested Frank. 

"Oh that's right, you were in Korea having an affair with some blonde Army brat!" 

"Don't you think that's a little unfair?" asked Frank "Margaret wasn't an Army brat. She was a very nice girl. I think you'd like her." 

Louise scoffed "Oh yeah. Like I'd like the person you cheated on me with while you weren't here." 

"Sometimes I doubt he was here even before he left!" yelled Jacqueline from upstairs. 

"He was never here period!" put in Tiffany. 

"See what you've done!" yelled Frank "You've turned all our daughters against me!" 

Louise glared at him "Not all of them." She left the room. 

"That was really mean," said a voice from the chair that was turned around. 

Frank looked down and smiled "You see what I have to put up with every day?" 

"I see it every day," said the voice and got up from the chair to face her father. Frank found himself face to face with his youngest daughter, Stephanie, who was fifteen. Stephanie was the only one of the Burns girls who actually liked their father. She was never sure why. All she knew was it was mean the way her mother and sisters treated him. She thought her father was an OK person. She knew about the affair and when her mother and sisters were making fun of him behind his back and that subject was brought up, she just said that he had cheated because he missed them and that the affair was a way to miss them less. 

"I've never seen why you stay here, Dad." said Stephanie. She was also the only daughter who had ever called him 'Dad'. 

"Don't want to pay alimony," Frank answered seriously. 

"Well, if you ever decide to leave, take me with you. Everyone hates me here." 

"They hate you because you like me, don't they?" asked Frank 

"Yep" she answered 

"If you ever want to . . .you know . . . start hating me so they'll like you better, I'll understand." 

Stephanie stared at her father "I like you better thanI like them and if them liking me has a price of me not liking you, I won't pay it. If they can't accept me for my likes and dislikes they don't deserve to like me. Why would I want to have the respect of people who hate and make fun of my favorite person in the world?" 

Frank wasn't sure if he had gotten all of that but all he knew was that he wasn't going to lose his last daughter to Louise and he had been complimented. "Well, thank you, Stephanie. It's good to know that there's one person I can count on in this family. You're my favorite daughter." 

Stephanie smiled "I love you, Dad." This comment always stopped Frank in surprise. No one had ever told him they loved him. Not even Margaret or his mother. At least he knew how to respond to it 

"I love you too, Stephanie." Frank smiled and hugged his daughter, rather awkwardly. 

"Got to go to soccer practice," said Stephanie "Bye." 

"Do you . . . uh . . . want a ride?" 

"Nah. Field's close by," She said and went out the door. 

"Bye," Frank smiled and looked around. 

"Uh . . . Stephanie . . ." he called 

"Yes, Daddy?" she poked her head in the door 

"Where's the mail?" 

Stephanie laughed "It's on the table with the lamp on it" And she left. 

Frank smiled _'Ha! Stole one from Louise'_ he thought and walked over to the table with the lamp one it. "Bill, Louise . . . bill, Louise . . . what's this?" he mumbled to himself. He picked up a white envelope, read the address and opened it. He looked it over and noticed a very familiar name on it. "Hmm." Frank mumbled to the empty room. "Now this is interesting . . ."

************************************************************************

Toledo, Ohio

Wednesday, April 27, 1956

11:00AM

"Klinger…Klinger…Max…" Max Klinger heard his wife, Soon-Lee call. 

"In here, honey" he called without looking up from the wedding dress he was working on and had been working on for the past three days, ever since he had found out about the wedding. Margaret Houlihan's wedding dress. Soon Lee walked into the workroom of Klinger's business, Klinger Collections, which was located over the garage of their house. The fitting and measuring rooms were downstairs and the office where Klinger made the dresses was upstairs. 

"How's the dress coming, Max?" Klinger looked up at his wife from where he was threading a needle. 

"Pretty good. I wish I had her for a fitting though, but where Margaret Houlihan is concerned, I don't get much of what I want. Gee, it burns me up that we got cut off before I could find out who she was marrying. Lousy phone connection. Oh well." Klinger smiled "How's everyone doing today?" 

Soon Lee smiled back "Pretty good" 

"That's good" he put his sewing down and got up to kiss his wife. 

A few minutes later, she said "Max, the mail!" 

"Male what. . . oh the mail! Anything good?" He sat back down and resumed his sewing. 

"A few bills. . ." 

"OK, I'll deal with them in 20 minutes. . . or 20 years, whichever comes first . . ." 

"Max. . ." Soon-Lee said wearily. She loved her husband dearly, but sometimes, especially where bills were concerned, he exasperated her. 

"Sorry, honey, what else have we got?" 

"Another disappointed letter from Mrs. Henderson. . ." 

"I swear," interrupted Klinger, dropping his sewing "I've made that old lady 4 different dresses, exactly how she told me to and all 4 times, she's hated them and then she blames _me_ because she doesn't like how they were made. I followed her instructions to the letter and she doesn't like them. I wish just once she would like the dress. What doesn't she like?" 

"The color. Green." 

"She told me to make it green!" yelled Klinger "She said. . . and I remember this exactly 'Make it green, Mr. Klinger. If it's black, then it will look like the bridesmaids' dresses. . . . oh, I'd like to give her something that would look like the bridesmaids' dresses. . ." 

"Max. . . Max calm down. We don't have to deal with Mrs. Henderson right now" said Soon-Lee. 

Klinger looked up at his wife rather embarrassedly "Sorry, honey, I've gotta work on my temper. . ." 

Soon-Lee laughed "You keep saying that. That's all the mail except this one piece of house mail" 

"No. No house mail till after work. Best way to separate work and home. . . separate the mail. . ." 

"It looked important" pressed Soon-Lee "It's from Mill Valley, California…" 

Klinger, who was off on a spiel about separating work and home, stopped himself mid-sentence "Mill Valley, that's where BJ lives. I wonder what it is" he grabbed the mail, forgetting everything he had just said about separating work and home and opened it. He scanned the words and yelled out a loud "WOWEE!" 

"What is it?" asked Soon-Lee. Klinger had a huge smile on his face "I don't believe this. . . this doesn't explain the phone call, but. . . I gotta use the house phone. . . I'm taking a break. . . " Klinger ran out of the room, with a confused Soon-Lee trailing behind him.

******************************************************************

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Wednesday, April 27, 1956

4:00 PM

Father John Patrick Francis Mulcahy walked up the aisle of the church. He was coming from coaching boxing and he had the usual headache. It was amazing how 10 boys ranging in age from 8 to 16 could give him such a headache. "Father!" called a boy urgently from behind him. 

"Yes?" said Father Mulcahy. 

"I've been calling you and calling you and you kept walking!" 

"Oh I'm sorry, my son, must be time to change my battery." said the priest of his hearing aid. His hearing aid worked well, except when the battery was failing, then all bets were off. The only thing he regretted was not listening to his old friend, BJ Hunnicut when he had first lost his hearing about not telling anyone. He had lost a lot of his hearing during that time because he hadn't wanted to leave the orphans. If he had known about the hearing aid and that he wouldn't have had to leave them, he would have done both, get the hearing aid and gone back to the orphans. 

"What did you need, my son?" he asked the boy and the boy grinned 

"Nothing, Father. Father Nestor told me to give this letter to you. It just came in," he handed Father Mulcahy a white envelope 

"Thank you,my son" he said and the boy left. Father Mulcahy sat down in a pew to read the letter. A broad grin grew on his face as he finished it. "I knew it, I just knew it!" Father Mulcahy laughed. His laughter came back to him, reverberating off the high walls in the empty church, which made him laugh even harder. *************************************************************************************

Boston, Massachusetts

Wednesday, April 27, 1956

6:00PM

John McIntyre walked into his house and called out "I'm home!" to the seemingly empty house. Suddenly, a loud booming that could easily rival thunder sounded from the stairs and soon, two young girls could be seen from where John was standing near the door. 

"Hi Daddy!" they both called out and attacked him in turn for a hug. 

"Hi ya Becky!" he addressed the younger girl, a girl of eleven, who had gotten to him first 

"Hi Cathy!" he hugged the older one, who was thirteen. He stepped back, straightened up to his regular height of 6 feet and smiled at the woman who had appeared at the door separating the living room, where they were now and the kitchen. "What a welcome, eh, Louise?" 

Louise McIntyre smiled and walked towards her husband. "I was thinking the house was going to fall down the way the girls were running down those stairs." 

Both girls grinned at this and their father grinned back at them. "And how was your day, girls?" 

"Good." they both said at the same time 

"I won my softball game!" announced Cathy 

"And I was the winner of the spelling bee my class had!" put in Becky, not to be outdone by her sister. 

John grinned at his daughters "Good job, both of you." 

"Are you done with your homework?" asked Louise and the girls looked away 

"No," they answered, again in unison.

"Well, I think you'd better finish it, if you want to do something fun before you go to sleep." 

"Yes Mama." they replied, like good little girls. 

A broad smirk grew on young Becky's face, the spitting image of her father's "Race you up the stairs, Cathy!" 

"OK!" yelled Cathy and the two started up the stairs before either of their parents could stop them. 

John and Louise smiled and turned to face each other. "So you're home," smiled Louise 

"Last time I checked," said John "Now what do we usually do when I get home. . . oh yeah . . . I remember . . ." he looked lovingly at his wife and leaned down to kiss her. Suddenly, giggles sounded from the stairs and John and Louise broke apart and looked up to see their daughters peering down at them from in between the railing bars 

"Becky!" Cathy reprimanded her younger sister and looked down at her parents 

"Oops!" giggled Becky sheepishly and both girls ran away to their shared bedroom. John and Louise laughed at this. Louise stopped suddenly as she remembered something. Something from the past. She turned away from the loving smile of her husband, which was growing weaker as he realized something was the matter with his wife. 

"Louise, honey, what's the matter?" he asked, concern in his voice. 

"Nothing, nothing," she replied "You've been home all these years, but still I'm surprised to see you home early, that's all. Before you went to Korea, you never returned home until the girls went to bed most evenings because of all those medical conferences you went to." 

John exhaled slowly and shakily. He ran his hand through his curly blond hair and breathed deeply. He wanted to make sure he would be able to talk without his voice shaking too much. He hated even thinking of those 'medical conferences' as Louise had so put it. They had been years ago, but now, as Louise brought them up, they seemed like they had been just yesterday. He had done it. . . he was never sure why he had done it. Probably because…because Louise was such a good person. So supportive of him and the kids it had seemed too good to be true. He didn't think a person like that would marry _him_. He kept expecting something to go wrong and he didn't want to be hurt when and if it did so then the 'medical conferences' ensued. Nothing ever went wrong, but that was Louise. He had realized that it was possible for someone to be that perfect and married to him just in time for his number to come up at his local draft board. Then he had gone. . . there. . . and all those nurses. . . he still was never sure what they even were. Maybe he was still testing Louise, or maybe. . . maybe it had just been loneliness and the ever-present shock of being away from his family that made him do it. All married military men went through those two things. Some just dealt with it differently than others. 

"The 'medical conferences' . . . " John said remorsefully. He touched his wife's long brown hair hanging loosely below her shoulders. He wiped away a tear that had suddenly fallen from her deep blue eyes and tipped her chin up so he would be looking into her eyes "I don't go to those anymore." 

Those were the six little words Louise McIntyre had wanted to hear come from her husband's mouth, but never expected to hear "Oh John!" she cried and fell into his arms. 

John held her close and whispered, "It's all right, baby. . . It's all right" every so often. 

Louise sniffed and pulled away from her husband "Enough of this, I don't want the girls coming down and seeing me like this. Like a wreck," 

"It would be all right," laughed John 

"No it wouldn't!" insisted Louise, drying her eyes "I wouldn't want to explain what I was crying about to them. Ever." 

John stopped laughing "You're right, Louise . . . but you won't . . . ya know . . . hold that over my head as a way to get me to do what you want. Or tell them and make them hate me." 

"Of course not, John. I love you more than anything and I wouldn't hurt you or the girls that way." 

John smiled "I love you too, Louise, my darling" Louise leaned into her husband and received a hug and kiss. 

"All right," laughed Louise, pulling away "the roast is going to burn if we keep this up. Oh, John, who do you know in Mill Valley, California?" 

"No one, why?" asked John, puzzled "I never even knew there was a Mill Valley in California"

"Well, apparently there is. Something came for you from there today. It must be from Hawkeye or one of your friends in Korea." 

"How do ya figure?" 

Louise laughed "Well, It's addressed to 'Trapper'. . ." 

John laughed too "Yeah, they're the only people who call me 'Trapper', but it can't be from any of them. Radar lives in Iowa, Klinger in Ohio, Father Mulcahy's in Pennsylvania and last I heard from Hawkeye, he was living in Crabapple Cove, Maine and wasn't planning to leave unless the state caught fire or something." 

"What about the other two…uh…Burns and Houlihan?" 

John burst out laughing "Frank Burns and Margaret Houlihan! Writing to me! You've got to be kidding me! The only thing I ever had in common with either of them is we hated each other. Same with Hawkeye. I doubt it's either of them." 

"Just open it, John. Whoever it's from, it looks important" Louise said as she left the living room to go into the kitchen. John ripped open the envelope and a note fell on the floor in front of him. He bent down and picked it up. As he opened the note, he grew excited when he recognized the familiar untidy scrawl of his best friend. It said simply:

************************************************************************

Trap,

It's been awhile hasn't it? Anyway, I need ask you something important regarding the other thing in the envelope so call me when you get a minute. Call me at this number: (415) 921-7584. It's the number of my friend, BJ Hunnicut (the guy who replaced you in Korea), I'm staying with him, which probably explains the postmark, right? I'll talk to you soon, I guarantee it. After you read the other thing, if you haven't already, the only thing you're going to want to do is talk to me (and maybe try to knock some sense into me once you find out what it's about, knowing you. But, my old friend, it's not gonna work, sorry). I won't keep you in suspense any longer (on the other hand, that would be fun, ha ha,) but I'm not that mean. . . wait a minute, I am, but that's another story. See you soon.

Hawk

************************************************************************

John stared at the note for a minute and reread it again to make sure he hadn't missed a clue on what the heck his old friend was talking about. He called out to Louise "There's a note. It's from Hawkeye. He says he's visiting a friend in Mill Valley and not much else but his usual confusing riddles. . . but that's Hawk for you". 

"He wrote all the way from Mill Valley just to tell you riddles?" Louise called back. 

"No there's something else in the envelope. He referred to it once or twice in the letter and told me once I read it I would want to knock some sense into him, but it wouldn't work and to call him in Mill Valley once I read it." 

"Well, what is the other thing?" 

"Hold on, lemee read it. . . " he trailed off as he opened the other thing in the envelope. The thing dropped from his hands once he reached the end. "Omigod" he whispered 

"Well, John, don't keep me in suspense. What is it?" 

"You won't believe it. . . I don't believe it. . . You remember how I told you that Hawkeye hated this one person we knew from Korea so much if he ever married her, old Mr. Sommers next door would announce he's expecting twins? Well, I think we'd better go congratulate Mr. Sommers. . ."

************************************************************************

Boston, Massachusetts

Wednesday, April 27, 1956

9:00AM

Charles Emerson Winchester III entered the dining room of the mansion that also housed his parents, his sister, and countless servants. "Good morning, Charles." addressed his mother. 

"Good morning Mother, Father, Honoria." he addressed back automatically and took his customary place at the table, his mother on the right of him and his father at the left, at the head of the table of course, and Honoria across the table from him. The serving man, Harvey served him his food and stepped back near the sideboard and Charles started to eat. 

The table was silent. He could hear the soft clink of the utensils against the plates it was so quiet. Charles liked it this way. He didn't have to talk to his family, which was always a good thing. Since his return from Korea, he had noticed they had changed. . . or had he changed? They were extremely shallow. All they cared about was being invited to the latest greatest social event of the season. A ball or other event for the wealthy. That used to be his top priority too, hadn't it? He couldn't even remember anymore. But now, it was hard to make something as unimportant as that his top priority after watching countless people die for a year and a half. '_No, Charles, don't think of that'_ he thought to himself angrily. He was trying to forget the war, even if it killed him. It made him remember things he would rather forget. . . like the Chinese musicians. . . _'NO!'_ He yelled at himself. '_NOT THOSE DAMMED MUSICIANS!' _That experience, for him, had been his worst experience of the whole war. Those people hadn't even been involved in the war more than to become prisoners of war, but yet they were senselessly killed for something they weren't even directly involved in. He still couldn't listen to classical music. . . 

Determined to take memories of the war out of his mind, Charles stared down at his food. French toast and a poached egg on a genuine ivory plate. A long stemmed silver goblet filled with orange juice and a teacup filled with coffee. All accompanied by sterling silver silverware, a cloth napkin and an ivory napkin ring. 

Suddenly, the silverware turned to cheap metal silverware, the cloth napkin to a paper one and the napkin ring disappeared totally. The teacup turned to a white, cheap porcelain coffee cup and the silver goblet disappeared to join the napkin ring. The ivory plate turned to a metal tray, the French toast to American World War II surplus toast, hard as a rock and the poached egg became scrambled, so much so it became liquid. The beautiful wood poly-eurthaned table topped with a chenille tablecloth; the same material as the napkin turned to an uncovered wooden one, almost like a picnic table. The white walls around him turned to army-drab colored canvas. His family disappeared and were replaced by ghosts of people he could barely see now, and hadn't seen them since then. Charles could almost hear the annoying comments on the food made by one Hawkeye Pierce. He could almost see Pierce now, left elbow on the table, propping up his head, right hand holding a fork up to his nose to smell the 'food' on it. Now, he could almost hear BJ Hunnicut, Pierce's best friend complaining he couldn't eat after Pierce's comments . . . 

"Charles! Are you going to get your mail or aren't you?" yelled a female voice, ridding him of his daydreams of eating in the mess tent of the 4077th M*A*S*H. The place settings, room, and people in it changed back to normal. Charles looked up from his breakfast, French toast and poached eggs again, to the woman who was addressing him: his sister, Honoria. Out of his whole family, Honoria was the one he could tolerate the least now. They used to be very close, but now…now ever since she had lost her stutter after he'd returned from Korea, she had turned from his stuttering, beloved baby sister, who shared so much in common with him, to a screechy woman, who had nothing in common with him, and the two were as different as night and day. But, mostly, if he really started to think about it, she was just the same as she had been before he had left for Korea. Maybe he _had_ changed . . .

"What is it?" asked Charles, rather annoyed at the interruption of him thinking of the place he . . . dammit, he had to admit it . . . missed. 

"I told you. . . Jeeves has been standing there with your mail for 5 minutes now and you're off somewhere staring at me like I'm saying the most disgusting things in the world when I'm not saying a thing until I started calling you! Are you deaf?" 

'_If only she knew. . .' _Charles thought to himself when she was talking about him looking like she was saying something disgusting _'. . . Or maybe it's better if she doesn't know'_. Charles wasn't ready, even after 2 years of being back, to talk of his experiences in Korea. He had told them of a few things, nothing of any importance. He just wasn't ready to talk about it. Not yet. Charles tuned back in to his sister's screechings when she reached the end of it. 

He looked up at the mail butler, Jeeves, who, he just noticed, was standing over him, offering a letter. Charles then looked at his family, all of whom, he noticed suddenly, had mail too. Charles looked back at the butler and apologized "I'm terribly sorry, Jeeves. I did not mean to ignore you, my mind was wandering uncontrollably and I sincerely apologize for keeping you waiting." 

"Quite all right, Master Charles." said Jeeves stiffly, handed him the letter and left the room after a quick "If you are in no need of me anymore sirs and madams," to the Winchesters. 

Charles noticed the stiffness in Jeeves' voice, but wasn't worried of offending the older man. He always sounded like that. Charles looked at his family and noticed they were all staring down at their laps like they didn't want to talk to him, which was all right with Charles. He didn't think anything of their behavior until he remembered a rule his father had made when he and Honoria were children _'Don't apologize to the servants'_. Charles had always obeyed that rule until now but now that he had been taught manners from spending a year and a half away from the influence of his parents, he didn't care about that rule. Ignoring his family, Charles looked down at the letter in his hands. The first thing he noticed about it was it had a postmark from Mill Valley, California _'Mill Valley . . .'_ he mused in his head _'That's where Hunnicut lives . . .' _Charles turned the letter over and opened it. There were many things in the envelope. He took out the biggest one and scanned it quickly. He didn't think he had read it right, so he read it a second time and it said the same thing it had said the first time. 

"My word . . ." Charles said out loud. 

"What is it, Charles?" asked Mrs. Winchester. 

Without remembering whom he was talking to, he started "You remember my . . . my . . . um . . .from Korea . . ." 

"Friends?" suggested Mr. Winchester. 

"I guess you could say that . . ." Charles admitted. His father could say it, that was fine, but, though he knew it to be true, he still couldn't say it out loud.

"BJ Hunnicut was the one who came up with the idea to have the reunion party for the families" supplied Honoria and their parents nodded. 

"Right" said Charles, rather shocked they remembered who they were and even more shocked Honoria remembered the name of one of them. They didn't remember such . . . such pointless drivel, they would call it. 

"Well, two of them are getting married." he finished, wanting to keep it short and sweet, as he knew they didn't really care. 

"Really Charles? We'll go of course!" said his mother 

"When is it, son?" his father asked. 

"We . . . what?" asked Charles, shocked. Shocked that they seemed . . . he barely dared say it . . . seemed to care about the marriage of his friends. Wanted to do something for him, instead of being so self-involved. Wanting to go watch people they would probably call common people get married. Until 5 minutes ago, he would of thought the idea of his family doing something involving people he cared about was ludicrous. The chance was slim to none. _'I never would have guessed they would actually want to go'_ Charles thought to himself _'I probably should have given them more of a chance. Allowed them in to the more private part of my life. I guess they're not as pompous as they seem . . ._ ' If he could stop being so pompous, then anyone could. 

But on the other hand . . . maybe he should just check . . . "Um . . .you . . . you really want to go?"

"Of course we want to go, Charles." his mother said "You were a part of their lives and them part of yours for a long time, it's only obvious you would want to go." 

"And we're your family, Charles. Those people from Korea were a big part of your life, and we would like to know more about the people who are the big portion of your life" put in his father. 

"You never talk about it and we've never pressed it because we assumed it was too painful to talk about to people whom might not understand" added his mother

__

'It all makes sense now' Charles thought _'It's not they didn't care. It's just they thought I cared too much' _

"It will be splendid to see the O'Reillys again, wouldn't it, Mother?" added Honoria, making Charles chuckle slightly as he remembered how disgusted he had been when he found out how well his family had gotten along with the O'Reillys. Honoria then turned to Charles "They are coming, aren't they?" 

"Yes, I assume they are invited." 

"Good, it will be simply splendid to see them again. We lost touch a month or two after the reunion party and we never got to invite them to the Cape house" said his mother. Charles shuddered at the remembrance of how he had felt when he found out that the getting away from the people in Korea wouldn't be as easy as it was going to be and how Pierce and Hunnicut had both started in on him the minute Radar had told them his mother said that his family had invited them to the Cape after the war. 

"I wonder how Ed is getting on . . ." mused his mother "I remember Edna saying he had a heart condition . . ." 

Charles stared at her "Mother, Ed O'Reilly died of a heart attack about three months after the party." 

"You never told me that!" said his mother in horror "I never sent Edna any condolences or anything . . . I can imagine what she thinks of us now! Why did you never tell me, Charles?" 

"You never asked." he answered simply "Besides, Mrs. O'Reilly is a simple lady. She will not beat you over the head with the ace of spades because you did not send anything." This got stares from his family. Maybe some things had changed, but some things (like their senses of humor, or lack thereof) hadn't. 

Mrs. Winchester regained her composure "I am glad I brought it up and you told me, Charles. Imagine what she would have thought if I had asked Edna the whereabouts of her brother!" Another thing didn't change; Mrs. Winchester still cared deeply what people thought of her and her family. 

"When is the wedding, Charles?" asked his father, changing the subject completely. 

Charles checked the invitation "May 5th" His father's face broke out into a big grin "Splendid! No one make any plans for the 5th of May" he turned to face his son "we are going to a wedding!" Charles dropped his father's gaze and looked down. . . no, not shyly. . . anything but shyly. . . more like awkwardly. . .

Suddenly a squeal, the source of which being Honoria, sounded from across the table. 

"What is it Honoria, darling?" asked Mr. Winchester. 

"Daddy, we've been invited to the Governor's Ball in England!" 

"The Governor's Ball, Honoria!" cried Mrs. Winchester rapturously "We'll have to plan the outfits immediately!" 

"When is it, Honoria?" asked Mr. Winchester. 

She checked the invitation "May 5th. That's the day of the wedding of Charles' friends." 

"That's all right," said Charles, surprised they'd remembered, though it had only been 5 minutes ago they had talked of it "I'll go to the wedding and you can go to England." 

"No," said Honoria "they said they wanted the whole family or none of the family". 

Mr. Winchester turned to his son "Would you mind, son, if we missed the wedding to go to the Governor's Ball? Honoria, if you remember, has wanted to go since she was a girl, and I'm positive there will be another reunion of your M*A*S*H friends another time." 

"But, Father, it's not just a reunion, it's a wedding of two people who, you said yourself, are of great importance to me." 

"But Cha-arles," whined Honoria "you know that if you don't go to the Ball the first time you are invited, you will never be invited again!" 

"I do not believe it is fair to always be forced to do things concerning Honoria and have to sacrifice the things I care about in order to do this." He said through gritted teeth, trying to keep himself civil.

"Charles, what on Earth are you talking about?" asked Mrs. Winchester 

"I was 9 years old it was Christmas Eve. I was picked up by Reynolds, the driver in the second limousine coming home from boarding school because you were in the first limousine picking up Honoria from her boarding school . . ." 

"Charles . . ." 

"Not done . . . I was 12 it was the last night for a recital of Mozart music, but it was also the last night for the Russian Ballet. I wanted to listen to the Mozart music. Honoria wanted to go to the ballet and neither of us were old enough to go alone. We went to the ballet . . . and " he said quickly, on a roll and not wanting to have to pause for interruptions "and who could forget the day I graduated from medical school . . . oh . . . you could considering the fact YOU WEREN'T THERE! Honoria was performing in a piano recital and both of you HAD TO GO! There were many more occasions I can think of where I had to give up something for Honoria and none where she gave up something for me! In all those times, one of you could have gone with Honoria, the other with me, but did you . . . NO! OF COURSE NOT!" 

"Charles Emerson Winchester, you are acting like a spoiled little child!" yelled Mrs. Winchester. "I thought I raised you to be courteous and polite." 

"There's a fine line between giving up what you want for others and doing it every day of your childhood, which, may I remind you, was fully conducted by the boarding schools. You raised me! Ha! That's a laugh! You were too busy raising Honoria!"

"And Timmy." said Mrs. Winchester darkly 

"Don't you even talk of Timmy!" roared Charles at the memory of his dead younger brother "You raised Honoria and Timmy here in the manor while I was shuffled from boarding school to boarding school!" 

"Charles, aren't you a tad old to be playing 'I'm the Neglected Child' and 'She was Always Mommy and Daddy's Favorite'?" said Honoria silkily 

"You're just saying that because you know you will get your way as always!" yelled Charles "I would like to go to this wedding! You don't even have to come along! Go to England! Try to get in without me! I don't care what you do, just let me go to this wedding!" 

"Charles, you were never neglected and you know it" said Mr. Winchester "You were always well cared for whether you lived here or not. You weren't always living at a boarding school just like Honoria and Timmy weren't always living at home. Every year, your mother and I decided which children would be better at a school and which at home according to what was going on in your educations and the home life. Since you were older than Timmy and Honoria by a number of years, and they were close in age, some years it was easier for you to be at school while the two of them were at home. Less children to worry about. Like the years after Timmy and Honoria were born or the year or two before Timmy died. You _and_ Honoria were at school at that point, not just you, remember, Charles? And Honoria got her way most of the time because she's younger and she, then, was too young to understand she couldn't get her way all the time, so we just thought it easier to give her what she wanted, even if it meant we couldn't give you what you wanted, because you could understand why better." 

Charles snorted "You deemed it wise to give your daughter what she wanted all the time instead of disappointing her, so you ended up disappointing your son. Though, I do suppose that explains why she is a spoiled little brat!" 

"Charles!" yelled Mrs. Winchester "Your behavior at this point in time is an embarrassment to this family and unbecoming a man of your age and stature! Apologize to your sister at once!" 

"No! I will not grovel at the feet of my awful little sister! Children need to learn how to accept the fact they can't get what they want all the time!" 

Mrs. Winchester raised her eyebrows at her son "Oh really, Charles . . . and how many children have you raised?" 

"That is unimportant." Charles said coldly "What I said is common sense. You do not let one child have whatever she wants at the expense of the other. That causes them to be spoiled and selfish." 

"You should know about selfishness," mumbled Honoria. 

"I am not as selfish as you are, _dear sister_. But I digress. I am well over the age of 18, perfectly capable to make my own decisions. I am an adult and I no longer have to be ordered around by you! I **am** going to this wedding and there is NOTHING you can do to stop me!" 

Mr. Winchester smirked "Really . . . nothing?" 

Charles rose from the table "Yes, nothing! I **will** be going to Mill Valley, California. Upon my return, I will move out of the estate and you will never hear from me again." 

"Fine by me" mumbled Honoria

"Oh really now . . . would you like to hear what I will do to you if you go to this wedding, _son_" 

"Do your worst, _Father_" Charles smirked down at his father and started to walk the long walk out of the dining room.

"Upon your return, you will be kicked out of the house and we won't care what happens to you." 

"I am already moving out after I return." 

"All your clothes will be in the dirt. I know how you hate to wear dirty clothes." 

"I'll buy new ones." 

"You will be disinherited. Written out of my and your mother's will, unable to bear the Winchester or the Emerson name _by law_, you will be cut off from the Winchester fortune . . ." 

Charles stopped short at the door and Mr. Winchester started to chuckle deviously "I knew that was the one. Your money means a lot more to you than your puny, _poor_ friends . . . You are scared of being without money like them . . . shall I have Jeeves purchase 4 tickets to England?" Charles took a deep breath, stiffened up and, after collecting the things of his that he had purchased with his own money, walked out the front door. 

Twenty minutes later, he entered Boston General, mumbling to himself. At least he didn't have to worry about his so-called father taking his job away from him. Margaret Houlihan had helped him get this job. Charles entered his office after nodding to his secretary, Joanne and requesting no calls. He took an envelope out of his jacket pocket, played with a piece of paper inside it, while toying with the idea of calling a number on it. He took a deep breath. _'If I can get out of my parents' house I can do anything_'. He thought to himself. Charles took another deep breath, reached out for the telephone and called the number. 


	13. Peg's Secret

*A/N: Praise Allah! ff.net finally found a way to fix that annoying '…'turning to '.' thing, so now we don't have to space out our '…'s. These will stay spaced because I'm too lazy to unspace them lol. Anyway, thanks to Mirandabelle, we have another chapter for your reading and reviewing pleasure, so I hope you guys like it! And thanks to all my reviewers especially bbwholly1981 for her multiple reviews and to Exploded Pen for her extremely amusing review. Oh! And to Stalking Shadow and CKS24, newbies to this story. Thanks for taking the time to review, everyone! I really really appreciate knowing what you guys think! 

'PA: Remember, the hospital is open 24 hours a day for your dining and dancing pleasure'
    
    -From 'Five O'Clock Charlie'

*Disclaimer: I own M*A*S*H? I do? Oh, wait, I don't? Aww, now, I'm disappointed. . .*

-AEM

*******************************************************************************************

Mill Valley California

Monday, April 25, 1956
    
    8:00 AM

The calls started to come in the following Monday. 

"Pierce, this better not be one of your jokes!" said Colonel Potter when he called the Hunnicut household on the Monday he received the invitation 

"Hi Colonel, long time no talk. What's not one of my jokes?" 

Colonel Potter laughed, "Same old Pierce. The invitation I received to a wedding of you and Margaret in Hunnicut's hometown. Is it true?" 

"Is what true? The fact I'm with BJ in Mill Valley, yep that's true. . . say hi BJ," he said to BJ, who was standing next to him, arms crossed, and, like always, leaning on the wall 

"Hi BJ!" called BJ. 

"Very funny, Pierce and Hunnicut . . ."said the Colonel "You know what I mean" 

"Do I?" Hawkeye asked innocently. 

"Pierce, can't you act serious for once!" cried Margaret, running into the room. She grabbed the telephone away from her husband-to-be 

"Colonel," she said breathlessly "Margaret Houlihan". 

"Margaret, you don't need to tell me your name, I'd know your voice anywhere" 

"Sorry, Colonel. . ." blushed Margaret. 

"Nothing to be sorry about Major. . . oh that's right, you left the Army." 

"Yes I did, sir and I'm dammed proud of it!" 

"Glad to hear it. Now about this wedding. . ." 

"Yes sir. Hawkeye and I. . ." 

"NOOOOO!! You must not tell the secret!!!!" yelled Hawkeye maniacally and wrenched Margaret away from the telephone and started to kiss her. 

BJ grabbed the falling phone and jumped into Hawkeye's routine like old times by starting to chat to Colonel Potter about the first thing that came to his head, which turned out to be his reunion with Peg and Erin when he returned from the war. 

"Whoa, Hunnicut, time out. Tell Pierce to stop doing whatever it is he's doing and let me talk to either him or Margaret about this wedding shenanigan, which, I'm starting to believe with each passing second is a falsehood created by you and Pierce to get your jollies." 

BJ smiled "Believe me Colonel, it's true. And if you want to talk seriously, you'd better talk to Margaret," 

"As long as you holster Pierce!" 

"No problem. Bye Colonel," 

"Goodbye BJ." BJ wrenched his best friend away from Margaret and Margaret explained everything to Colonel Potter. 

"Are you serious Margaret? I'm prouder than a peacock for the both of ya!" 

"Colonel, You know my father died 2 months after the war. . ." 

"How come everyone seems to know that, but me?" asked Hawkeye 

"I didn't know either." pointed out BJ 

"That's reassuring. . . "

". . . there's no one else I'd rather have walk me down the aisle but you" finished Margaret 

"Oh Margaret, I'd be honored" breathed Colonel Potter.

************************************************************************

"Hawkeye, is that you?" asked Radar O'Reilly when he called about 10 minutes after Margaret hung up with Colonel Potter. 

"Radar! Baby! Long time no see, eh?" yelled Hawkeye, who was growing more increasingly silly as the phone calls progressed. 

"Geeze, Hawkeye, can't you be serious for once?What is this wedding invitation for you and Major Houlihan about? I mean it seemed to me you were close when you visited me, Patty, and Ma on the farm last week, but not this close. Was this whole wedding thing in the works then? Why didn't you tell me?" 

"Radar, one question at a time!" laughed Hawkeye "Yes, I proposed to Margaret before we went to see you guys. I didn't tell you because it was all part of my master plan. You, my dear Radar, were a pawn in a crazy plan I had. . ." and he explained to Radar the plan he had had. 

When he was done Radar said "So you didn't tell me when you were done because you wanted to tell Captain Hunnicut first." 

"Eww, Radar!" said Hawkeye in disgust "Please, do not disgrace BJ or I by calling us 'Captain'. We aren't in the Army anymore and we didn't even act like Captains then." 

Radar laughed "That's true. I'm really happy for you and Major Houlihan, Hawkeye." 

"Radar, call me Margaret." interrupted Margaret, who was listening to the conversation from Hawkeye's end 

"Whoa! How did she hear me?!" yelled Radar in shock and Hawkeye, Margaret, and Patty, who was listening in on Radar's end started to laugh. 

"He's blushing, Margaret." laughed Patty. 

Suddenly Margaret remembered "Oh right, Hawkeye, Radar, get off the phone I need to talk to Patty." 

"Yes ma'am!" yelled Radar and handed the phone to his girlfriend. 

"When will he ever stop being scared of me?" sighed Margaret 

"Give him time, Margaret. Give him time. He'll come around." muttered Hawkeye and handed the telephone to Margaret. 

Margaret asked Patty to be a bridesmaid and she accepted. Then, Margaret and Patty handed the phones to Hawkeye and Radar, respectively. Hawkeye started to talk first. 

"Radar, you mean a lot to me, you know that" Hawkeye said seriously 

"Yep" Radar replied, just as seriously 

"I was wondering if you would be a groomsman-usher-thing in Margaret's and my wedding" 

"Course I will, did ya even have to ask?" Radar replied, with a grin.

"One more thing, Radar. Give Margaret a chance. She's not the same mean, rules and regulations major that she was when we all arrived in Korea. She's changed, she has a heart. She won't bite your head off like she used to do. Give her a chance, Radar." 

"For you, Hawkeye, anything" promised Radar honestly.

************************************************************************

Mill Valley, California

Tuesday, April 26, 1956

3:00 PM

"Um…is Margaret Houlihan there?" asked the man on the other end of the phone mid-afternoon the next day. 

"Who's this?" asked BJ. 

"My name is Frank Burns. I was a friend of hers in Korea". BJ started to snort and put his hand over the receiver. He glanced around and put the telephone down on a nearby table and walked to the living room, where Margaret was, watching television with Erin. 

"Oh Margaret," sang BJ "Phone call for you!" 

"Who is it?" 

"Frank Burns." 

"You can't mean our Frank?" asked Hawkeye, entering the room 

"The very same." BJ said smugly

"Who's Frank Burns?" asked Erin 

"An acquaintance of ours from Korea." explained BJ 

As Margaret and Hawkeye walked towards the phone, BJ and Erin were wandering back to the living room Peg came around the corner looking a little green around the edges.

"Peg, honey are you all right?" asked BJ, his voice full of concern

A brief spasm of panic flitted over her face before she answered "I'm fine, BJ. I'm just not feeling well." She said finally "I think I'm coming down with something" 

"Do you think you'll be all right for the wedding?"

"I hope so" she said quickly "I'm going to go lie down. Don't worry, BJ, I'm OK" she said reassuringly and went on her tiptoes to kiss her tall husband on the cheek after noticing the look of concern on his face. Peg then took the opportunity of his confused concern to slip down the hallway towards her and BJ's bedroom, before BJ could question her any more, leaving BJ staring at her back, not believing a word she had said.

*******************************************************************************************

"Please Margaret, can I talk to him, make him crazier then he already is?" pleaded Hawkeye as the two approached the phone.

"No, then we won't shock him on our wedding day when he comes. That was your original plan, wasn't it?" 

"Oh right, but can I at least listen into his stupidity?" 

"Sure"

"Hello" Margaret picked up the phone and held it out a little so Hawkeye could hear. 

"Margaret" said Frank excitedly "It's me! Frank!" 

"Frank" said Margaret with an obscene amount of fake enthusiasm in her voice "It's been a long time since I've heard from you. . . not long enough" she mumbled to Hawkeye in an undertone, covering the receiver so Frank couldn't hear, making Hawkeye chuckle. 

"So what's this I hear about you getting married, Margaret darling?" 

"Oh you received the invitation. . . _wonderful_" 

"I didn't know you divorced Penobscott. When did that happen?" 

"Oh ages ago. Before the war ended" 

"Oh the Korean War. . . I have some fond memories of then, don't you, Margaret darling?" 

"If he calls you 'darling' one more time, I'm gonna call him something that's not so nice." mumbled Hawkeye 

"Don't complain to me, Pierce, it was your and Hunnicut's idea to invite him not mine! If I see him anytime after this, it will be too soon!" 

"What's that in the background, Margaret darling?" interrupted Frank. 

"The radio" Margaret said, thinking fast. 

"Oh," laughed Frank. "Anyway, I would be delighted to come to your wedding. My youngest daughter Stephanie will also come too. My wife and my other two daughters hate me so they wouldn't want to come. Who are you marrying, anyway? It was smudged on my invitation." 

"What?" asked Margaret, thinking fast

"I said, who are you marrying?" 

"What am I carrying?" she asked, finally deciding to pull the same trick she pulled on Klinger on Frank. 

"Margaret, darling, what on Earth are you talking about? I never said anything about you carrying anything." 

"Frank, I can barely hear you. You're breaking up!" 

"It's fine on my end." 

"I heard that! It might be fine on your end, but my end is lousy! I'll see you next week, Frank! Goodbye!" Margaret slammed the phone down, which was a good thing too because almost immediately she and Hawkeye started to laugh uncontrollably. 


	14. The Truth About Peg's Secret, or is it?

*Okay, here I go again not updating regularly...I'm really sorry about that, but life's been insane these last few months (my usual excuse) between my research paper from hell and other random stuffs. It'll calm down in May hopefully, but maybe I shouldn't say that 'cause we all know what happens when people say life will calm down...  
  
Anyway, this is, I think (I'm updating from my Mum's computer and I don't have all my files on this one) this is the last filler chapter until we get to the action. I have this problem where I can't leave out detail, so sorry about that. What people can describe in two words, I describe in eleven. I'm wordy and I love details. I'm detail happy hee hee.  
  
Special thanks goes out, as always, to my beta, Mirandabelle, who somehow puts up with my detail –happiness and to all you reviewers out there! Questions, comments, concerns, feedback, reviews, etc. just review this or feel free to e-mail. Thanks all!  
  
Disclaimer: YAY! For the first time in this story's history, I have something important and worthwhile to disclaim that/whom will be mentioned in more than just this chapter! *feels proud* What is it, you ask? First, I must correct you, it's a him not and it. Secondly, the person I'm disclaiming is a baby by the name of Sherman Maxwell Klinger. Who is he, besides for the obvious that is? Read on, McDuff . . .  
  
-AEM*  
  
Mill Valley, California Wednesday, April 27, 1956 8:00 AM  
  
"She's hiding something from me, Hawk" mumbled BJ the next morning in the living room. He was lying on the couch, his hands behind his head. Hawkeye was leaning forward in the chair in front of him.  
  
"Who, Peg?" asked Hawkeye, and BJ looked up from staring at his hands.  
  
"Of course Peg. Who else would it be!" Hawkeye broke eye contact and BJ said embarrassedly "I'm sorry, Hawk. I'm just so dammed edgy because my wife is keeping secrets from me!" He got up from the couch and started to pace. "She says it's nothing but if it was nothing she would tell me, wouldn't she?"  
  
"Of course she would,"  
  
"God, Hawk, you should've seen her. She looked horrible and when I asked her about it, this look of guilt and fear came across her face and then she hesitated before she answered me. I know my wife, Hawk, it's not like her to do that. It's also not like her to lie, and she's a horrible liar. I can always tell when she's lying, and I'm willing to bet anything...anything she's lying now. And what kills me is the fact that I don't know why!"  
  
"BJ, don't worry. You're probably just jumping to conclusions. If it's anything, she probably didn't think it was the right time to tell you or something and will tell you later. I doubt it's anything to worry about."  
  
"Well, I'm worrying more because she won't tell me!" BJ exclaimed as the telephone rang. He started to go and get it when Margaret ran by saying,  
  
"Don't move, BJ, I'll get it" and picked up the phone. "Hello, Hunnicut residence," she offered  
  
"Well, Maj. . . Margaret, why didn't you tell me you were marrying Hawkeye!" said the man on the other end.  
  
Margaret grinned "Klinger, I didn't tell you because Hawkeye told me not to"  
  
"And since when have you listened to him?"  
  
"He had a good reason." she said simply "Are you mad I didn't tell you?"  
  
Klinger smiled. "No. Just interested in the reason behind why you kept it a secret."  
  
"Well, Hawkeye is the one who knows the answer. Do you want to talk to him?"  
  
"Sure, why not. Put him on". Margaret smiled. "All right. Hold on. . . oh Klinger, how are my dresses coming along?"  
  
The Lebanese grinned "Wonderful. I'm doing everything exactly the way you told me to. One question though, you told me to make 4 bridesmaid dresses, but only gave me the sizes for 3. Can I have the other size?"  
  
"I can give you better than that. I can give you her name. It's Soon-Lee"  
  
Klinger smiled "Really? That's really great of you. I assume you want to ask her yourself, she's right here if you want to do it now, which is a good idea considering if you don't, she's liable to bite my head off to get it out of me!"  
  
Margaret laughed "OK, Klinger. Put her on then you can talk to Hawkeye." Klinger handed the phone to his wife.  
  
"Soon-Lee. . . Margaret Houlihan."  
  
"You don't need to say your last name, Margaret I know who you are," Margaret and Soon-Lee laughed. Margaret stopped and asked "Soon-Lee, I was wondering if you would be a bridesmaid in my and Hawkeye's wedding?"  
  
"I'd be delighted!" cried Soon-Lee "I can't believe you and Captain Pierce are getting married! Congratulations!"  
  
Margaret laughed "Thank you! But, don't call him 'Captain' to his face. He hates even being reminded he was once in the Army"  
  
"Right, I'll remember that. Max wants to talk to Hawkeye now"  
  
It took Margaret a few seconds to remember who Max was. She told Soon-Lee this, which made her laugh, "For as long as I've known him, I've called him 'Klinger'. The only one who calls him Max from the 4077th is Charles Winchester. I forget that Max is his first name!" this made Soon-Lee laugh more.  
  
Margaret laughed too "I'll get Hawkeye," She covered the receiver and called for her fiancé. Hawkeye wandered into the kitchen, followed by BJ, who looked upset and confused.  
  
"Yes dear?" sang Hawkeye.  
  
"Klinger wants to talk to you"  
  
"I thought the old scoundrel might!" Hawkeye grabbed the phone.  
  
Margaret went to BJ and asked "BJ, are you all right? You look upset."  
  
"Not just upset. . . upset and confused" he responded and left the kitchen.  
  
"Klinger?" Hawkeye spoke into the phone.  
  
"Hawkeye!" came the reply "I have a bone to pick with you"  
  
"Wow, I haven't picked bones with you since the last time we ate in the Mess Tent." said Hawkeye sarcastically "We were always taking bones out of something. Like the soup or the mashed potatoes or. . ."  
  
"Very funny, Hawkeye. I was being serious!"  
  
"Sorry, what is it?"  
  
"Why didn't you let Maj. . . uh. . .I mean Margaret tell me that the two of you were getting hitched?"  
  
"Married Klinger, not hitched. And as for the other thing. . .you're probably expecting some spectacular, complex reason as to why Margaret pulled that big thing on you,"  
  
The Lebanese grinned "Kinda yes."  
  
Hawkeye smirked "Well, sorry Klinger, no long-winded explanations today! I just wanted to mess with your head, that's all!"  
  
"Well, now I'm disappointed . . ." said Klinger, with a smile  
  
". . .Also because I had something to ask you and I thought it would be better to tell you and ask all at once" Hawkeye continued  
  
"Ask away!"  
  
"Ask if you would be one of the groomsmen/usherthings at my wedding that's what"  
  
"Hawkeye," yelled Klinger "Didja have to ask? Of course I'd be one of those groomsmen-thingys for you . . . now all we have to do is to decide who to leave the baby with. Obviously, he's too young to travel all the way to California. I know. . . we'll leave him with my ma. . . she loves it when her grandson visits. . . "  
  
"Klinger. . . " said Hawkeye slowly ". . . back up a minute. . . what baby?"  
  
"My son, of course!"  
  
"Klinger, you don't have a son."  
  
"Yeah I do,"  
  
"No you don't,"  
  
"Hawkeye," Klinger laughed "I think I would be the authority on whether or not I have a son or not."  
  
"Yeah. You would be but you don't. I hope you would tell at least one of us from Korea,"  
  
"I did. Soon Lee and I sent invitations to all of you. Didn't you get one?"  
  
"I never got an invitation, Klinger."  
  
"I swear, I sent them out. None of you, except Colonel Potter responded" said Klinger, confused.  
  
"Klinger, I never got one. Hold on lemme ask Margaret." Hawkeye took the phone away from his ear. "Margaret, did you ever get an invitation to a baby shower for Klinger's son?"  
  
"Klinger doesn't have a son" Margaret answered, matter-of-factly  
  
"That's what I said but he doesn't believe me"  
  
"That's because I do have a son" yelled Klinger from the other end of the phone "His name is Sherman Maxwell Klinger and he's nearly a year old" he continued, almost defiantly "I'll even ask Soon-Lee. Soon-Lee. . ." he called his wife "Do we have a son?"  
  
Soon Lee laughed "What kind of question is that, Max? Of course we have a son"  
  
"Well, Hawkeye and Margaret don't believe we had a son and never received any invitations"  
  
"Are you sure you mailed them?"  
  
"Of course I did, what am I, stupid? Do me a favor. Get me my blue windbreaker. I remember I was wearing it the day I mailed them and if the invitations aren't there, I mailed them"  
  
Meanwhile, Hawkeye was asking BJ, who had just walked into the room, mumbling to himself darkly, the same question that everyone had been asking  
  
"Hey Beej, does Klinger have a son?"  
  
BJ looked up, as if startled to find people in his kitchen "What? No. Of course not" he waved his hand impatiently.  
  
"Ha!" grinned Hawkeye "I got another one, Klinger. Beej says you don't have a son, either"  
  
"Well ask BJ if he got an invitation because I'm positive I invited him . . . though I was positive I invited you too, but you seem to believe that I don't have a son and I never received an answer from you, so maybe . . . no I did send the invitations"  
  
Hawkeye laughed "I'll ask him. . . " He covered the receiver, then uncovered it  
  
"Beej" he called "did you ever receive an invitation regarding the birth of Klinger's son?"  
  
BJ looked up from where he was staring at his hands "What? No never got one . . . besides Klinger doesn't even have a son . . . but why does that matter?" he asked anxiously.  
  
"Beej, it was a simple question. No need to bite my head off. . ."  
  
"Nah," smiled BJ ruefully "it's my fault, I'm sorry, Hawk. It's just this dammed thing with Peg that's getting me all tensed up and you're right, it's probably nothing. One of those woman things we're not supposed to know about . . .it's nothing . . . " he said in a thoroughly unconvinced tone.  
  
While all this was going on in the Hunnicut household, in the Klinger household, Max Klinger was mumbling to himself "I'm positive I sent those invitations. . . I mean, why wouldn't I? They're the best friends I've ever had. But, that would explain the responses from them or lack thereof . . . no I sent them, I'm positive . . .this is probably one of Hawkeye's jokes . . . yeah that explains it . . . one of Hawkeye's jokes. . ."  
  
"Talking to yourself, eh Klinger? You know what they say about that, don't you" said a voice on the other end, whom Klinger recognized immediately  
  
"BJ!" Klinger yelled happily. The two talked for a few minutes, with corresponding comments added by Hawkeye, who was listening in. Then, Soon- Lee came in with the blue windbreaker.  
  
"Prepare to feel stupid, oh friends of mine . . . including your soon-to-be- betrothed, Hawkeye." started Klinger as Soon-Lee handed him the windbreaker.  
  
"I'll tell her you said that!" laughed Hawkeye.  
  
"You see," continued Klinger "it was a day in April, just like this one. The 30th to be exact. I remember that because that's the day my son was born. He wasn't supposed to be born until the beginning of June. He was a bit premature, but he handled it. He's a Klinger, what do you expect? We were forced to put off the shower until later in Soon-Lee's pregnancy because we needed to get my business off the ground first. I was willing to have her shower before I started my business, but. . ."  
  
"Klinger, get to the point" interrupted Margaret, who was now listening in too  
  
"Jeez! How many people are on that phone?"  
  
"Too many!" laughed BJ.  
  
"Just get on with it, Klinger" said Hawkeye.  
  
"All right, all right, sheesh, the grief I still have to put up with you guys. . . and I thought it would be different once we left Korea, but. . . "  
  
"GET ON WITH IT, KLINGER!" yelled Hawkeye, BJ, and Margaret all at the same time, making Klinger laugh.  
  
"All right I will!" he continued "On that aforementioned day in April I was going to the post office to mail the invitations to you three, Major Winchester, Father Mulcahy and Radar. I told Colonel Potter on the telephone. It was a rather windy day so I decided to wear my blue windbreaker. I put it on, much like I'm doing now though you can't see it to illustrate what I did. I picked up the five invitations from the hall table like I am now, though you can't see that either. . ." he pantomimed picking up something from the table ". . . and I stuck them in my pocket. . ." he stuck his hand into the pocket and continued proudly"...where they sit to this very day. . . WHAT!"  
  
"What? What is it?" asked Hawkeye.  
  
"Oh no" moaned Klinger "I never sent them! Remember I said that was the day my son was born? I was just about to leave when Soon-Lee told me her water had just broken. The excitement of that day made me forget all about the invitations. We had the shower a few weeks after Soon-Lee had the baby and I forgot that I had never sent them. I thought I had, and actually, since I thought I had sent them, I was a bit surprised and a tad offended that you hadn't responded."  
  
Hawkeye laughed "And I don't know about the other two on this line, but I was a bit surprised and a tad offended that, I thought at the time, you didn't tell us you had a son".  
  
"I feel like a moron . . ."  
  
"Well, you are a moron, but you're our moron" said Hawkeye, good- naturedly.  
  
". . . I feel really bad. . . "mumbled Klinger  
  
"Klinger, don't" said BJ "you had a good reason to forget about the invitations".  
  
Klinger laughed "It's good to know some things never change. Hawkeye's still sarcastic as all hell and BJ's still the same ol'rational BJ"  
  
'Rational. . .' mused Hawkeye to himself, looking BJ, who at the moment was laughing for the first time in a day '. . .It's obvious Klinger hasn't seen BJ lately because he's anything but rational. . .'. Hawkeye made a mental note to try and find out what was up with Peg for the sanity of his best friend.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
1:00 PM  
  
"I'll get it!" BJ said cheerfully as the phone rang again 3 hours after they hung up with Klinger. He entered the kitchen from the living room and his smile dropped the minute he left the company of Hawkeye and Erin. Peg and Margaret were out looking at flowers and cakes for the wedding. Hawkeye had told him that he shouldn't spend so much time brooding over this thing with Peg and it was probably nothing. He agreed with that; it would probably turn out to be nothing, but it still burned inside him that she wouldn't tell him. But, he had decided he wouldn't waste time thinking about it while he was around Hawkeye or Margaret, especially Hawkeye. He never saw Hawkeye much, about once a year if that and he didn't want to waste his precious time with him worrying about something no one could control, he would do when he was alone. Besides for the fact Hawkeye was getting married in a few days and there was no way he was going spend that day mad when his best friend was getting married and he was the best man. He was determined to be happy now if it killed him, but he knew it would be easy to be happy that day no matter what happened with Peg.  
  
BJ picked up the telephone on the third ring. Hawkeye had wandered in behind him and, noticing BJ's pensiveness as he went to go pick up the phone, reminded him of the vow he had made to himself a few hours ago to find out what was the matter with Peg. He knew BJ's moods as well as his own. Now, instead of the anger that BJ had displayed earlier, he was pretending everything was great and Hawkeye hated to see him like this. Sometimes, Hawkeye felt BJ's 'pretend nothing is wrong when it is' mood was worse then his 'hold a grudge and get mad at the world' mood. Hawkeye was jolted out of his thoughts when BJ laughed at whoever was on the phone and handed the phone to Hawkeye.  
  
"Who is it?" asked Hawkeye  
  
"You'll see," smiled BJ and left the room.  
  
"Yello, Fred's Department Store. You want it we got it." He said into the phone, though he had no idea who he was talking to.  
  
"Pierce, you will never change . . . you will always be a juvenile delinquent . . ." said the person on the other end of the phone, and though Hawkeye couldn't see him, he was shaking his head. Hawkeye recognized the voice immediately. He grinned. Though he had sent this person an invitation, he had half-convinced himself that he wouldn't receive a response. "Charles Winchester! I'm honored you're attending my wedding!"  
  
Charles rolled his eyes "I will be in attendance, not for you my old adversary, but merely in an attempt to snap poor Margaret out of whatever trance you had to put her in in order for her to accept a proposal of marriage from you."  
  
Hawkeye sniffed in mock offense "Charles, I am deeply offended you are not happy for Margaret and I. And just for your comment, I'm not going to ask you the thing I wanted to ask you . . . "  
  
"If it's money you want, think again, Pierce" Charles cut him off. "Not that I have any myself considering the fact that I have none myself and also the man I formerly called 'Father' is even now writing me out of his will and cutting me out of the Winchester fortune." He added to himself silently.  
  
Hawkeye's laughter brought him back to the conversation. "Like I would ever accept charity from you. I was merely going to ask you to be a groomsman /usherthing in my wedding, but now, since you have offended me so . . ."  
  
"I'd be honored to be a groomsman" Charles said honestly "and also, I am happy for you and Margaret . . . Hawkeye."  
  
3:00 PM  
  
Peg came upstairs from the laundry room, carrying a basket of laundry  
  
"Hi Hawkeye." she addressed the black haired man, who was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper with his feet on the chair next him, and his chair tipped back. "Feet off the furniture." she said automatically.  
  
"Yes ma'am." drawled Hawkeye in his fake Southern accent and took his feet off the chair and put his chair back in the normal position all in one fell swoop.  
  
"Where are the others?" the woman asked.  
  
"Well, Erin's in her room playing with her dollhouse..."  
  
"Where else?" laughed Peg  
  
"BJ and Margaret went to look at more cakes."  
  
"More cakes!" Peg shook her blonde head "At this rate, we'll be floating in them! She just couldn't decide on a cake when we were there before for some reason. Now she's doesn't want marble. She's now choosing between carrot and lemon. With me, it was flowers...anyway, I'm surprised you didn't go with BJ. In all the times you've visited us here or we've gone to Crabapple Cove, I don't think I've ever seen you and BJ separated for more than 5 minutes!"  
  
Hawkeye laughed "Well, there's a reason for that, we haven't. I was going to go look at cakes, in the hopes that I could make a decision about them faster than Margaret, who was gonna stay here and field phone calls until we realized the only person from Korea that hasn't called yet is my old friend Trapper McIntyre. He and Margaret weren't exactly bosom buddies, so I'm the one who'd be better off talking to him. Besides for the fact I haven't talked to him in years for one thing, and another thing is I want him to be one of those...whatsit...groomsman/usherthings...what are those things called anyway, groomsmen or ushers?"  
  
Peg laughed, "I think they're called groomsmen, Hawkeye."  
  
"Good that's been bugging me forever..."  
  
"But on the other hand, I've also heard them referred to as ushers too. I'm not sure what the difference between the two are..."  
  
"Aak!!" screamed Hawkeye "I'm never going to find out what they're called, am I? I'll just go the rest of my life not knowing...and it will bug me...and..."  
  
Peg was in hysterics by the time Hawkeye finished his rant. Suddenly he remembered the second reason he had stayed behind...He drew a breath...Peg knew something serious was happening. It wasn't often she ever saw Hawkeye serious and when she did she knew by now that whenever Hawkeye Pierce was serious, he had a good reason to be.  
  
"Though keeping a reunion of Trapper and Margaret from getting off on the wrong foot is a good reason to stay behind and not eat cake, I have another reason..." continued Hawkeye "This might not be any of my business, and you might get mad at me for poking my nose into it but it's driving BJ crazy. I can see it, though he's trying to hide it. I keep telling him it's nothing, which it probably is, but it would be better...I 'd like it if I knew for sure so I would at least know if I was lying to him or not. I don't like to lie to BJ, but if it's something between the two of you and none of my business, that you need to tell him in your own time, I will lie for now...you know what I'm talking about, don't you..." he finished as he watched realization dawn on Peg Hunnicut's face.  
  
"That day..." she said quietly.  
  
"That's a good way to put it...that day..."  
  
"You're right, it is none of your business, but you do have a right to know if you're lying to BJ or not...that's what I've always liked when I watched the two of you together. You're so loyal and always looking out for the well-being of each other...about the other thing...to let you know, you're not lying to BJ." The two stared at each other for a few minutes, then the telephone rang.  
  
"I'll get it." said Hawkeye, never taking his eyes off the woman. There was a little nagging voice in the back of his head telling him not to believe her statement, but the more rational part said, "Why would she lie?"  
  
Hawkeye walked towards the telephone and picked it up mid-ring. "Yello, Marvin's Dry Cleaning open every day from 9-6, since 5 minutes ago, dry cleaning your clothing in 7 different countries including US, France and Ouigobou!" (The correct spelling of the town is Ouijonbou as in the atlas!)  
  
"HAWK!" yelled a voice into the phone loudly making Hawkeye wince a little, but not take the phone away from his ear. He knew who it was.  
  
He grinned "TRAP!" he yelled happily.  
  
"I got your mail." said Trapper "What the hell is this, Hawk? You're marrying Hot Lips?"  
  
Hawkeye winced again, this time at the old nickname "Not Hot Lips, Trapper. Hot Lips is long gone, thank you very much. I am marrying a wonderful woman named Margaret Houlihan, soon to be Margaret Pierce if she can decide on a cake one of these days."  
  
Trapper waved his hand impatiently, though Hawkeye couldn't see it "Yeah, her. What happened? Last time I saw Hot Lips, you hated her guts, she was still GI all the way something you hate, I might add, and she was still perfectly content sucking the lips, or lack thereof, off of Frank Burns."  
  
"What can I say, Trap? Things changed a lot after you left. Margaret decided she wanted more than a fling, ended things with Frank, went on R & R, married a jackass named Donald Penobscott, who we later found out was cheating on her and divorced him. She also loosened up a lot after Frank left..."  
  
"Where did Frank go?" Trapper cut in. Hawkeye laughed and filled his old buddy in on what had happened.  
  
Trapper burst out laughing "Couldn't 'a happened to a nicer...ok a rottener guy." Hawkeye laughed too.  
  
"Tell me about the guy who replaced me..." Trapper looked at the note from Hawkeye "...BJ Hunnicut...you two must be really tight if you go to visit him and you're getting married in his hometown."  
  
"Tight doesn't even begin to describe me and Beej." started Hawkeye happily  
  
"What's he like?"  
  
"Like you and me. He hated being there as much as we did. And he had a good reason. He was missing the first few years of the life of his first- born baby girl. His hobbies included thumbing his nose at the Army whenever he got the chance, performing surgery on kids as young as Radar, drinking lighter fluid martinis from the still, and getting bombed out of his mind if the occasion called for it, which as you know, was most of the time."  
  
"You're right. He does sound like us. Good cutter?"  
  
"As good as you and I are."  
  
"Good egg?"  
  
"The best."  
  
This worried Trapper a little, but he didn't let it show. "Yeah, how is Radar, anyway?" he said lightly  
  
"I'll let him tell you himself when you meet up at my wedding. You are coming, right?"  
  
"And miss seeing Hot...er...Margaret again? No chance. We've already saved that weekend."  
  
Hawkeye smiled "Hey as long as you're coming, do you wanna be a groomsman- usherthing?"  
  
Trapper grinned "Definitely, buddy!"  
  
"Good." smiled Hawkeye. He paused for a moment before continuing "I'm really glad you're coming. I've missed you, believe it or not. My wedding wouldn't be the same without you there, Trap...Geeze, this is turning into a real 4077th reunion. Everyone from all the years is coming."  
  
"Except Henry." said Trapper sadly, making Hawkeye sad too.  
  
"Why did you have to remind me of that, you big jerk?" he frowned  
  
"I really miss him, ya know?"  
  
Hawkeye nodded sadly. "Yeah, I know, me too."  
  
"Wait a minute, who took command after Frank went crazy? Not you I hope! Though, on the other hand, if you did, North Korea would have won the war!"  
  
Hawkeye laughed, "Oh, thanks a lot! That is what would have happened though. Frank was only in charge a couple of weeks after Henry died before I-Corps found us a new CO named Sherman Potter. He was regular army, but he was OK. He gave us discipline when we needed it, was always there to talk if we needed it, and could drink even me under the table."  
  
Trapper laughed, "Nice to know the amount of drinking didn't change. Was he better than Henry?"  
  
"At being a CO yes, but on the other hand, so would a chimpanzee. At being a friend, you can't compare because they're two different people."  
  
"True. Oh, listen, Hawk, I gotta go. Louise needs the phone. I'll see ya in a few weeks, OK?"  
  
"All right, Trap" said Hawkeye "See you then. Hey, Trap, it's been good talking to you."  
  
Trapper smiled "Yeah, you too. See you". The two men hung up. Trapper stared at the phone sadly. He was glad Hawkeye had asked him to be a groomsman, but he was surprised Hawkeye hadn't asked him to be best man. From what Hawkeye had said about this BJ Hunnicut, his replacement, Trapper had a feeling he had been replaced in more ways than one. BJ had been asked to be best man and Trapper knew it. His stomach tightened. Trapper also had a feeling he had lost his best friend. Not even just lost, but lost. He had lost him a long time ago and hadn't even known it...  
  
4:00 PM  
  
"So Trapper called?" said Margaret when she and BJ came back after looking at cakes and Hawkeye filled her in on the goings-on of the previous hour, including the conversation with Peg.  
  
"Yes, did you finally get a cake, or will you be needing an extra year to pick one out?" Hawkeye teased, knowing full well, he would be teasing her about the cake for years to come.  
  
"Yes, for your information I picked one out you, big jerk. It's marble."  
  
Hawkeye burst out laughing, "That's what you wanted in the first place!"  
  
"Oh shut up, Pierce! What did Trapper have to say?"  
  
"Not much. Yes he's coming and yes he'll be a groomsman/usherthing. I told him about the goings-on of the 4077th after he left. Not all of them of course. Have to save some for when the gang gets here. So we can tell the stories with all the concerned parties there telling their side of the stories. Funny though, Trap seemed really interested in my relationship with Beej..." mused Hawkeye.  
  
Margaret smiled "Isn't it obvious? Trapper used to be your best friend, right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"Then he left and BJ came along. He was checking out the competition. He's jealous that he's been replaced in the title of best friend."  
  
Hawkeye scoffed "No he's not."  
  
"Yes he is."  
  
"No he isn't. Let's just drop this, Okay?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
Hawkeye looked around the empty kitchen before continuing on a subject that had been floating around in his head ever since the conversation with Peg. "I dunno whether I should tell BJ about what Peg told me. He didn't ask me to talk to her and I didn't tell him I was going to. Think he would be mad if he found out I talked to Peg?"  
  
"In a word, yes. You know how BJ gets when someone gets into his business without him asking them to."  
  
"True."  
  
"Way I see it is don't mention anything about it unless he talks about it first. Then say what you found out without telling him what you found out."  
  
"I think I need a road map for this conversation," remarked Hawkeye "What did you just say? And in English this time if you don't mind."  
  
Margaret rolled her eyes "If BJ mentions it again, tell him that you know it's nothing, but don't tell him how you know it. If he asks just say because you know these things or one of your sarcastic remarks like you're just smart like that or something like that."  
  
"Oh..." said Hawkeye in realization "You could have just said that..." 


	15. Sorry for the delay

This, like the description-thingy says, is not an update. I just needed to say a few things concerning my story _Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells_. I'm really sorry I haven't updated in forever. My beta, Miranda has been really busy and hasn't sent me the next chapter (15) yet. Not that I'm blaming my lack of update-ness all on her cause it's not all her fault. I got really busy for a while and didn't send it to her until all my school-related things let up. That's all I really wanted to say, just to apologize and explain the hold-up cause I feel really bad. Any suggestions and all stuff like that, as always, are greatly appreciated and hopefully, a new chapter will be up soon, so until then...

-AEM


	16. Chapter 15 Chaos Before the Storm

A/N: Finally! We finally have an update! Again, I apoplgize for the long delay. Between MIA betas and that insanity I like to call school plus jobness and attempting to get a car, it's been pretty insane. Fortunately, the beta problem was solved. MASH-Nut-4077th graciously offered to beta this chapter (I don't want to bug her cause I don't want to come across mean and she's got a lot of stuff going on last I talked to her, but I also felt really bad for being so long between chapters). In any event, here's the next chapter with extremely special thanks to MASH-Nut-4077th. Thanks for all your patience. I didn't get any hate mail describing in great detail my death, so for that, thanks a lot. So again, I'm extremely sorry for the delay and I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Must we go through this again? Yes? Okay. Here goes. Do I own MASH people? Is the world round? Does M come before N in the alphabet? Are there 9 planets in the solar system? The answer to the last three questions is all yes. Will the answer to the first follw suit? No.

Mill Valley California

Friday May 3, 1956

10:00 AM

The days before the wedding flew by. Before anyone knew it, it was the third of May and the wedding was two days away. The Hunnicut household was in utter chaos. Margaret was extremely nervous. She was in 'Major Houlihan' mode, trying to get everything done and snapping at the littlest things. Hawkeye was dealing with the pressure by being more sarcastic than usual. BJ was still worried about the thing with Peg, but trying to hide it, badly in Hawkeye's opinion. He had taken Margaret's advice on what to say to BJ and that had been the end of BJ's verbal worries for the most part. The mental worries were still going strong, however. As for Peg, when she wasn't trying to calm Margaret down, she was working hard to keep an antsy Erin out of mischief. Erin was always underfoot these days as her best friend Anna had had the flu all week. To add more insanity to the mix, this was the day all the members of the 4077th MASH and their families were arriving in California.

"OK..." mumbled BJ after breakfast that morning. He grabbed a pad of paper from a table.

"BJ Hunnicut the list maker. What is it with you and making lists lately, Beej?" sang Hawkeye. He was sitting at the kitchen table with his feet on it yet again.

"Get your feet off the table," BJ mumbled, staring at the blank pad in front of him and the pen in his hand, as though he had never seen anything like it before in his life.

"Yessir," sang Hawkeye in his fake Southern accent and took his feet off the table, letting he chair legs that were off the floor fall neatly and quietly back into place.

"Call me sir again and I tell Margaret you're allergic to marble cake," mumbled BJ out of the corner of his mouth.

Hawkeye's mouth widened in shock "You wouldn't..."

"I would."

"What are you two fighting about?" asked Peg, walking to the table and wrapping her arms around her husband's neck. Margaret came from the other end of the room and leaned on Hawkeye. He pulled her onto his lap.

"We're not fighting are we Beej?"

"Never..." laughed BJ "When have you known us to fight?"

Margaret smothered a laugh as she remembered a few times when the two of them fought so much they almost lost their friendship because of it. Suddenly she snapped into 'Major Houlihan' mode. She got off Hawkeye's lap. "All right, let's get moving. What's next?"

Hawkeye rolled his eyes and gave a mock salute. "Yes ma'am. To work. What are you writing, BJ?"

BJ had been busy scrawling on the pad in front of him. He answered Hawkeye's question a minute later. "Everyone's coming in today, right? And of course, at different times. The first plane with the Potters comes in at 12, followed by the O'Reillys at 12:30, the Klingers at 1:30 PM, Father Mulcahy at 2, and Charles and the McIntyres at 4."

Peg sat in a chair next to BJ and questioned "What about... uh... Burns... Frank Burns?"

"Never said when he was coming in," responded BJ.

"Besides, would you pick him up if he asked?" asked Hawkeye, to which he and BJ burst out laughing.

"He doesn't even know the half of this wedding, anyway," put in Margaret.

"I'm surprised he didn't remember that you lived in Mill Valley, BJ," mused Peg.

"I'm not," laughed Hawkeye, "What you will soon learn about Frank Burns, my dear Peg is he is a bumbling idiot. He's crazy and wouldn't remember something trivial like the hometown of one BJ Hunnicut, who poked fun at him and their only common bond was the fact they loathed each other."

"Can we please talk about something important?" demanded Margaret, "When are we going to the airport?"

"One track mind," laughed BJ, "OK. We should be at the airport there early to pick up the Potters and the O'Reillys, so we should leave at around 11 to get there at 11:30. I think if we play our cards right, we come back here to drop off the Potters and the O'Reillys and get back to the airport in time to pick up the Klingers and Father Mulcahy. Then, we can get them back here and get back to the airport to pick up Charles and the McIntyres."

"One problem with your plan, List Boy," started Margaret, "How are we going to fit everyone in the car?"

"Not all of us are going to go."

"Even if only you and Hawkeye go for the first trip, how are you going to fit two Potters and three O'Reillys, five full size people, into four seats?" she finished smugly.

"Well, we all know Radar's not full size, we'll stick him into the trunk," chimed in Hawkeye, which caused Margaret to explode.

"Pierce! Will you please stop these sarcastic comments! This is serious business!" she stood up in front of where Hawkeye sat. "It's our wedding that we're trying to get our loved ones here for! I don't know about you, but I only plan to do all this once..."

"Didn't you say that last time?" mumbled Hawkeye under his breath.

BJ and Peg gasped.

Margaret's eyes narrowed to a dangerous level. "You're lucky I don't slap you for that one, Captain," she growled.

Hawkeye stood to face her bait "And you're lucky I don't cancel this whole charade for calling me something that I never was or wanted to be in the first place!"

"Well, maybe if you tried a little harder. You should have been proud to be called to do what we did..."

Hawkeye stared at her as she trailed off. "What's happened to you, Margaret?" he yelled angrily, "Where are you? You're throwing yourself way too much into this...I know it's our wedding and all, but it's changing you, and not for the better. All of a sudden, you're Hot Lips Houlihan again! The Rules and Regulations Major we all hated, and more importantly, you hated! Hello!" he called, "Are you in there, Margaret? Excuse me, Major Houlihan, can Margaret come out to play?" Hawkeye and Margaret stared at each other, neither blinking.

All was silent.

Suddenly, Erin wandered out of her room slowly, where she had been throughout this whole scene and moaned "Mommy, I don't feel well..."

"Oh no," cried Peg and ushered her daughter back to her room, from where the other three promptly heard a scream from a few minutes later.

"BJ!" she yelled, "Get me a bucket of water and some soap quick! Erin threw up all over her floor!"

BJ jumped up from his chair and ran to grab a bucket from under the sink.

The telephone rang.

"Hawk, can you get that?" asked BJ breathlessly as he went to grab some soap from the bathroom. "Hawkeye!" he yelled when he ran by where Hawkeye was standing with Margaret, still staring at each other, dead to the world.

BJ ran into Erin's bedroom as Peg ushered Erin into the bathroom. Hawkeye and Margaret were still staring...

Finally, Margaret spoke "Margaret can come out to play...oh, Hawkeye," she flung herself into his arms. "I'm so sorry about the way I've been acting the past couple of days, especially today. I guess it's because I'm nervous. I want everything to go right. When I was getting married to Donald I wasn't nervous. I didn't realize it then, but it was because I didn't love him. Now, I'm marrying you and I'm more scared then I've ever been in my entire life..."

"And I'm sorry for the stupid crack I made. I didn't mean it. I was just so mad and so scared I had lost my sweet Margaret to have her become Major Houlihan again. That thought scared me half to death. You worked so hard to become who you are today, I don't want you to lose that."

"I like who I am. I don't want to lose that either. I just became Major Houlihan again because it's a safe place to be. No big changes. Nothing to be scared of. Why are we so scared, Hawkeye?"

"I don't know. I'm nervous too. That's why I've been acting like I have. So sarcastic... I mean, more than usual..." he corrected when he saw her roll her eyes "...You know me... I always hide my feelings behind my wisecracks..."

"I'm so sorry, Hawkeye...I'm not the perfect wife..."

"No one's perfect. I'm not like Donald Penobscott and Frank Burns. I don't want the perfect wife. Perfect wives don't speak their minds and admit when they're scared or mad or tired or anything like that. They're just there for show... for company...if that's what a perfect, trophy wife is, then I want an imperfect wife. That's you, Darlene".

The name 'Darlene' took her back to the night she and Hawkeye had spent in an abandoned hut and the subsequent conversation in her tent, where he had told her that she should want something more out of her life than to be someone's trophy wife.

All this brought Margaret close to tears. "I love you, Hank"

"I love you too, Darlene." Hawkeye reached down to kiss her. The telephone had been ringing throughout all of this, but for all either of them noticed, the room was silent.

Ring! Ring!

"Hawkeye, could you get the phone!" yelled Peg from the bathroom.

Ring! Ring!

"Hawkeye! The phone!" yelled BJ from Erin's bedroom.

More kissing from Hawkeye and Margaret

Ring! Ring!

"HAWKEYE!!!" yelled Peg and BJ together, finally breaking the two of them apart.

"Geez, can't a guy kiss his fiancee these days?" remarked Hawkeye and went to answer the phone. When he got off the phone a few minutes later, BJ had returned. He and Margaret were sitting at the table and Hawkeye went to join them.

"Guess who else is coming in today?" he smirked

"Oh no..." moaned BJ

"My dad. He was the one on the phone. He's coming in at 6."

"My mom's coming in then too" volunteered Margaret suddenly.

BJ put his head in his hands. "Perfect. Nowhere near when everyone else is coming..." he suddenly remembered what had been going on before pandemonium had hit. He looked from Hawkeye to Margaret. "Is everything all right between the two of you?". Margaret and Hawkeye looked from each other to BJ.

"Everything's fine" said Margaret.

"Never better" put in Hawkeye

"It's two days before our wedding, why would you think anything wrong?" they both asked together.

BJ smiled a little. They reconciled, he knew it. "Oh I don't know..." he whispered and looked down at his paper as Hawkeye and Margaret smiled at each other lovingly.


	17. Chapter 16 Old Friends Meet Even Older ...

A/N: Oh wow I am soooooooo sorry for the over 3 month break between chapters. I am getting so bad, it's crazy. And out of my guilt comes…multiple chapters! That's right, you're getting two chapters in one day! Enjoy! And review!

More grown-up Radar for all of you who enjoyed him last time! Please bear with me as I have fun with filler chapters and anal descriptions of every minute detail, which can show you how sad my existence really is. Heehee. But, we're getting there! The fun will start shortly and the summary I wrote all those years ago (…snort one…) will finally come through, so thanks for muddling through all of my insanity! It will be worth your while, I promise! All questions (ie: Peg's secret) will be answered soon!

Thanks to all who reviewed! Reviews make my day! And that's the reason I feel so bad every time I don't update for a long period of time cause then the people who were reading, might not be reading it anymore. But, that's neither here nor there. Anyway, on to the story!

Disclaimer: Are they mine? No, they followed me home, Mommy, Mommy, can I keep 'em?!

-AEM

Hawkeye Pierce and BJ Hunnicut arrived at San Francisco International Airport at a little before 12 and immediately went to Gate 16, where a plane from Missouri was landing.

As they watched the gate, a little gray haired man exited the gate with a little gray haired woman and remarked to his companion "Hells Bells, Mildred! This place is as crowded as the carnival on opening day! How are we going to spot Pierce and Hunnicut in this madhouse?"

Mildred was about to respond when BJ, who had spotted the couple first, elbowed Hawkeye, waved his arm and called out "Colonel! Over here!"

Colonel Sherman T. Potter grinned when he saw Hawkeye Pierce and BJ Hunnicut. He pulled his wife, Mildred over to where the two were standing and in a minute had enveloped them both separately into a hug. Colonel Potter stepped back and introduced Mildred to Hawkeye and BJ.

Mildred smiled "After all I've heard from Sherman about the two of you, I feel like I've known you since he has!"

She hugged the two men too.

"So we the last to show up, or are we waiting for someone else?" asked Colonel Potter.

"Not last, in fact first" piped up Hawkeye.

"And as for someone else, yes" continued BJ "We're waiting for the O'Reilly's, who're coming in a half an hour. He then recited the arrival plans for the rest of the day, making the Potters laugh.

A half an hour later the 4 stood at Gate 22 where the plane from Iowa was arriving. They watched as three people emerged from it.

Hawkeye immediately called out "Radar!"

Radar O'Reilly looked up and grinned "Hawkeye!" he yelled and ran over to meet him. Hawkeye grabbed Radar up in a hug.

Finally, Hawkeye released him and took a step back to look him over. "You look good kiddo. I just saw you last week and I'll never get over this, you haven't changed a bit" Hawkeye hugged him again.

"And the same to you. But I've changed, Hawkeye. I've grown up a lot. I'm a man now and I mean it this time." Hawkeye smiled remembering their conversation in the office before Radar left Korea…oh it seemed like it took place so long ago…. Between Radar and Colonel Potter, they made introductions. Mrs. O'Reilly and Mrs. Potter seemed to hit it off.

They were on the way to BJ's car when Hawkeye noticed something that made him hit BJ's arm to call his attention to it. When BJ saw it he and Hawkeye shared a smile. Radar and Patty were holding hands and Radar was talking to Colonel Potter, like nothing was the matter. Colonel Potter seemed to notice it too, but he didn't let on to Radar. Radar had indeed grown up it seemed. He was no longer embarrassed to be around women like he used to. This saddened Hawkeye a little to know that the little naïve Radar he had known in Korea had grown up, but on the other hand, it had to happen, Hawkeye realized, but, Radar was still Radar. He still had the same heart that he used to. There were some parts that were still the same about Radar and some that were different and Hawkeye suddenly realized was looking forward to getting to know these new parts.

Hawkeye, BJ, the Potters, the O'Reillys and Patty got to BJ's car.

"How in the name of Samuel B. Morse are we going to fit 7 people into a 5 person car?" asked Colonel Potter in his usual manner.

Hawkeye grinned "Well, to start off, we stick Radar in the trunk…"

"HAWKEYE!" yelled Radar, turning beet red, making everyone laugh.

"Don't worry, Walt. I like your height" said Patty kissing him on the cheek, making him turn even more red.

"What there is of it" smirked Hawkeye, secretly pleased that the boy he had always thought of as his little brother had finally found love.

"Wait, who's Walt?" BJ jumped in, though he knew the answer.

"I'm Walt" said Radar "You guys are the only one who calls me by the nickname that you named me, making you forget my real given name".

For some reason, this caused BJ and Hawkeye burst into laughter. Mrs. Potter and Mrs. O'Reilly looked overwhelmed and quite in shock.

"Are things always this chaotic with your old command?" asked Mrs. Potter.

Colonel Potter smiled slyly at his wife "Wait till the rest of the gang gets here…"

Hawkeye and BJ dropped the Potters and the O'Reillys off at the hotel with the promise they would bring Margaret over to visit after they picked up the Klingers and Father Mulcahy.

"Jeez, it's been ages since we've been here last, hasn't it Beej?" remarked Hawkeye sarcastically as they walked through San Francisco International Airport, trying to find the gate for the flight from Toledo, Ohio that had arrived five minutes earlier...

Max Klinger drummed his hands antsily against his lap. He had never been the most patient man in the world. He sat in the hard chair nearby the gate they had entered the airport through a few minutes earlier where they were supposed to be meeting BJ and Hawkeye, who were late. Now that Max about it, this shouldn't surprise him. He remembered back in Korea the two of them would stroll in 5-10 minutes late for a staff meeting and act like nothing was wrong.

"Max, can you help me?" asked Soon-Lee, snapping Max out of his revile. She was holding her son in one arm while trying to bend over and get something out of a bag and not succeeding.

"Honey, don't try to do that by yourself with the baby in your arms" he bent over and got the bottle she was reaching for "Next time tell me sooner. Don't try to do it by yourself"

"I did" responded Soon-Lee "I called you 5 times".

Max blushed "Oh sorry, honey". He sat back down across from Soon-Lee and closed his eyes.

"Excuse me. I'm from the National Society of Future Debutantes here to award you with the best-dressed award for 1951 and a court-signed petition to never wear women's clothing ever again" said a voice from somewhere overhead.

Klinger's eyes flew open and he grinned as he looked up and saw Hawkeye Pierce standing over him laughing and BJ Hunnicut standing by laughing too.

"Hawkeye! BJ! It's great to see you!" Klinger laughed and greeted them both with a hug.

"It's great to see you too!" said Hawkeye "And Soon-Lee too, and…hey, I didn't know you were bringing your baby".

"Well, isn't he something?" said BJ in awe and stepped closer to Soon-Lee and the baby "May I?" he asked. Soon-Lee handed the baby over to BJ and went over to greet Hawkeye. "Doesn't he look so innocent?" whispered BJ.

Klinger laughed "Yeah. Innocent now, wait till he wakes up!"

BJ laughed "Oh don't I know it!"

Klinger smiled fondly at his son and rubbed his head a little "You know what, BJ? I think I know now what you went through when you were away from Erin when we were in Korea. Just the thought of being away from him and missing all this makes me sad"

BJ smiled and put his arm around Klinger's shoulders "Yeah. That's exactly it, Klinger. Exactly"

"Uh oh" said Klinger suddenly at the baggage claim while they were waiting to find Klinger and Soon-Lee's bags.

"Uh oh. What uh oh?" asked Hawkeye.

"You're gonna be really mad at me when you hear this," started Klinger, uneasily "but I think I forgot the dresses"

"You what?!" exclaimed BJ.

"And you spent so long on them" said Soon-Lee, mournfully.

"Forget about me…" Hawkeye put in "Think how Margaret will react"

"She's been a raving lunatic all week" agreed BJ.

Klinger looked nervous "You guys are good buddies, right? You'll help me onto the baggage carousel so I can hide in the baggage compartment of the plane for the next…oh say…three years…She would have calmed down by then, right?"

"Oh, I'm thinking more like five" snorted Hawkeye.

Klinger suddenly grinned. "Fooled ya!"

"What?" asked BJ in shock.

"I tricked you guys! I never forgot about the dresses, in fact, they were the first things I packed! I just wanted to see what you would say if I said that I forgot them. Just a small joke!"

"Well, you and your small jokes are riding on the roof on the way home, Klinger!" snarled Hawkeye.

"Hey, since when can't you two take a joke?" Klinger asked, shocked, looking from Hawkeye to BJ

"That wasn't a joke, that's a new way to stop a person's heart!" remarked Hawkeye loudly

"I was ready to tell you to go back to Toledo to get them" added BJ.

Klinger looked from BJ to Hawkeye "Gee I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you but I thought it was a joke but that just shows you that what one person thinks is a joke isn't someone else's idea of a joke".

BJ smiled "Klinger, take it easy, we were joking"

"Yeah…come on Klinger, get with it, since when can't you take a joke?" deadpanned Hawkeye

"Boy, I can't wait to see Father Mulcahy again. Where's he been hiding all these years?" asked Klinger a half and hour later when they were waiting for Father Mulcahy's plane to come in.

"Philadelphia believe it or not" answered BJ and told Klinger what Father Mulcahy had been up to for the last two years.

"Wow! I thought something was wrong with him right before we left Korea and I couldn't put my finger on it, but I hafta admit…" Klinger turned to smile at his wife "…I was kinda distracted at that time".

BJ and Hawkeye turned to the gate as Klinger and Soon-Lee kissed. "Father! Father Mulcahy!" yelled BJ suddenly and waved his arm to get the priest's attention.

Father Mulcahy smiled and walked over to the group. "Hawkeye! BJ! Klinger! Soon-Lee! I didn't know the two of you were coming to meet me! It's wonderful to see you all! And…who's this little one?"

Klinger smiled. "Father, I'd like you to meet my and Soon-Lee's son, Sherman Maxwell Klinger". Father Mulcahy smiled back and looked up at Klinger

"Has he met his namesake yet?"

"Yep. Colonel and Mrs. Potter have been up to Toledo once when he was baptized and we took him down to Hannibal a few months ago".

"Wonderful. Simply wonderful" sighed Father Mulcahy. "Nice to know something good came out of the Korean War. Two somethings in fact…no wait, three somethings! I can't leave out the reason we're gathered here, you and Margaret, Hawkeye".

Hawkeye smiled "Actually make that four somethings. Radar met his current girlfriend at the airport when he was coming back from that last R & R he had before he left".

"Simply wonderful. Is it serious?"

"Oh, very" laughed BJ quietly "I wouldn't be surprised if our next reunion takes place in Ottumwa, Iowa for the wedding of Walter O'Reilly and Patty Hayes".

"Simply wonderful" smiled the priest.

Hawkeye and BJ dropped Father Mulcahy and the Klingers at the hotel where they had a reunion with the Potters and the O'Reillys. As promised, Hawkeye and BJ went to the latter's house to pick up Margaret so she could visit with the rest of the gang. They brought her to the suite they had reserved for the whole 4077th group and Hawkeye's father and Margaret's mother. In addition to the two living rooms, there were eight rooms in the suite. One for the Klingers, one for the O'Reillys, one for the McIntyres, one for the Potters, and since there was another bed, they had offered it to Father Mulcahy, one room for Charles, one for Hawkeye's dad, another for Margaret's mom, and one for Hawkeye and BJ for the night before the wedding, where they would stay for the whole 'Don't see the bride for the night before the wedding' tradition that Hawkeye hadn't wanted to do, but Margaret had insisted. The O'Reillys, the Klingers, the Potters, and Father Mulcahy were in one of the living rooms catching up when Hawkeye, BJ, and Margaret came in. Immediately, everyone rushed towards Margaret, because she was the only one who they hadn't seen yet.

"It's good to see you again, Margaret" whispered Colonel Potter, as he hugged her tightly

"And it's good to see you again too, sir"

"No more sirs" started the colonel as he released her "That goes for all of you. I'm not your CO anymore"

"Have you been demoted?" teased Hawkeye

"Can it, Pierce, that's an order"

"Nope, sorry, you can't do that anymore. You just said you're not our commanding officer" laughed Hawkeye.

"Hi there, Maj…uh…I mean Margaret" said Radar and hugged her, surprising everyone, including himself.

"Hi Radar. How have you been?" asked Margaret, pleased that Radar wasn't treating her like the mean old Major she used to be.

"I've been good. Been ages since we've seen each other, right?" Radar joked

Margaret laughed "Yes it has".

"Oh I am so happy for you, Margaret" said Father Mulcahy, being the next in line to greet her

"Thank you, Father".

Suddenly, Margaret spotted Klinger

"Klinger, where are the dresses?"

"What, no 'Hi Klinger, how are you?' just 'Klinger, where are the dresses?" Klinger teased.

"Hi Klinger, how are you? Where are the dresses?" Everyone laughed.

"I think that's as good as you're gonna get, Klinger" laughed BJ.

"Always the same…don't know why I thought it would be different…"

"Klinger, can it, I want to see my dress!"

"Yes, Major Houlihan, ma'am" Klinger saluted

"Salute me again and I punch you in the nose!"

Everyone laughed and began to file into the Klingers' room to see the dress. Hawkeye began to follow, but Margaret put her hand on his chest to stop him "Where do you think you're going, buster?"

"To see your dress".

"Not until the wedding. It's bad luck"

"I don't believe in luck"

"Too bad, bucko. You're staying too, Hunnicut" Margaret now addressed BJ

"Why are you making me stay after school, teacher? It was all his fault"

"You'll tell him"

"I would do no such thing!"

"You would so!"

"Of course I would…. The question is how did you find out?"

"You weren't supposed to say that, you moron. You were supposed to say you wouldn't, Margaret would believe you, and come out and tell me" groaned Hawkeye.

While Hawkeye had been saying all this, however, Margaret had taken that opportunity to walk away from Hawkeye, go into the Klingers' room and lock the door behind her.

Hawkeye and BJ stayed at the hotel for a little while until it was time to pick up the McIntyres and Charles Winchester. They got to the gate just as the passengers were disembarking the plane. "Well, hello, Pierce, Hunnicut. Looking for me I suppose?" drawled a familiar voice behind them.

BJ smiled as he turned around "Nah. What do we want with you, Charles?"

Charles Emerson Winchester III laughed and shook hands with the two men. "I would say pleasure to see you two again, but it's only a pleasure for you"

Hawkeye laughed "Nice to see you too, Charles. You're glad to see us, I know it".

"Not really" said Charles, knowing full well it actually was good to see the two men again, though he'd rather die than admit it to either of them. "Is there any reason you're still staring at the gate?" he asked.

"Yeah, my friend Trapper and his family are on this flight too" answered Hawkeye.

"Ah the infamous 'Trapper' John McIntyre" said Charles pompously "I didn't notice any cretins on board, though I could have sworn I saw one of my colleagues from work, it was the oddest thing…"

"Wait, there he is!" said Hawkeye suddenly and waved, making both BJ and Charles' hearts stop, when they each first laid eyes on 'Trapper' John McIntyre, but for different reasons…

John McIntyre got off the plane, his wife and daughters behind him and scanned the crowd for his best friend… _'Well'_, he figured _'I guess not best friend anymore considering the fact I've been replaced…'_ He shook himself a little. He had to stop thinking about that. He didn't want Hawkeye to figure out that he was jealous. Even if he had to settle for 'close friend' instead of 'best friend', that would have to do because 'close friend' would be better than losing Hawkeye all together. John scanned the crowd again. "Well, I'll be goddammed…" he whispered.

"What? Did you find Hawkeye?" asked Louise.

"No, but I just saw the Chief of Thoracic Surgery from Boston General. Wonder what he's doing here?"

"Are you sure it's him?"

"I'd recognize his bald head anywhere"

"Are you going to go say hello?"

John laughed "Are you kidding me? He doesn't even know me. He doesn't give the underlings like me the time of day. He's an arrogant jackass"

"John, watch your language around the girls" reprimanded Louise.

"Sorry. They're not even paying attention anyway". Becky and Cathy promptly repeated the conversation between their parents word for word.

Louise raised her eyebrows at her husband "You were saying?"

John looked back over the crowd again and smiled suddenly. "Hey, there's Hawkeye! Wait a minute, there's the Chief of Thoracic Surgery, Dr. What's-his-name again and he's talking to Hawkeye and some other guy with him, must be his friend BJ Hunnicut, but how the hel…heck does he know Hawkeye?". Hawkeye suddenly spotted John, grinned and waved.

"Only one way to find out…" Louise whispered into his ear.

'Trap!" yelled Hawkeye happily when he spotted the other man.

"Hawkeye!" 'Trapper' John McIntyre returned, equally as happily and the two men hugged for a minute.

Hawkeye greeted Louise, Becky, and Cathy. "Trap, Louise, Becky, Cathy, I'd like you to meet my best friend BJ Hunnicut, and this is Charles Winchester".

Trapper smacked himself on the forehead "That's right. I remember now. Dr. Charles Winchester, Chief of Thoracic Surgery."

Charles rolled his eyes "Dr. John McIntyre, General Surgery… _'Trapper'_ John McIntyre, how could I have been so dense?"

"I can think of a lot of ways" smirked Hawkeye.

"Shut up, Pierce".

"I'm still confused," said Trapper "How the hell do you know Hawkeye, Winchester?"

"Ol' Charlie here was an inmate of the good old MASH 4077th" said Hawkeye promptly.

"Do you have a death wish, Pierce?" Charles glared when he was referred to as 'Charlie'.

Trapper laughed "Can't picture you in a MASH unit, Winchester".

"Believe me, McIntyre," Charles smiled ruefully "…I cannot see myself in one either. Even while I was imprisoned there, I refused to believe I belonged there".

"Hey, at least you got a good deal in getting Hawkeye here in the same unit"

"Good deal? More like a curse. And put him with Hunnicut and you've got torture in the form of crude humor and childish practical jokes"

"Hey, I seem to remember you playing some of those 'childish practical jokes' there too, Charles" remarked Hawkeye.

Charles rolled his eyes "And on top of Pierce and Hunnicut's idiocy, the legacy of one Trapper John McIntyre still lived on"

"Really?" asked Trapper, interestedly.

"Yep" spoke up BJ for the first time since the McIntyres had joined them, his hands in his pockets. "I remember Hawk told us about this one time you sent Colonel Blake's underwear into enemy territory".

Trapper laughed "Oh that was great! Henry was so mad! So was Frank Burns".

BJ laughed too "Ugh. I can imagine the look on Frank's face when he heard about that one"

"Heard about it? He saw it! You knew Frank?"

"Knew him and regretted every minute of it. You know what's worse than Frank Burns? Frank Burns in command."

"Oh God" Trapper laughed "He was temporary commander a few times when Henry was in Seoul or something. One word. Torture"

BJ laughed too "Don't I know it?"

The group walked through the airport after gathering baggage from the baggage claim. Trapper and BJ looked at each other, without the other knowing about it. Though they would never know it, they were thinking exactly the same thought _"Hey…this guy isn't that bad"_

BJ and Hawkeye brought Charles and the McIntyres to the hotel. Margaret was still there visiting the rest of the group. The group was sitting in one of the two living rooms in the suite.

"Hi there, gang. We found these people hanging around the airport" sang Hawkeye, which earned a slap about the head from Margaret.

"Geeze. Violent, isn't she? She never used to be that way" he joked, rubbing his head.

"I dunno, Hawk. When I was there, she was violent with words, but never with fists" spoke up Trapper, staring at Margaret, unsure of what she would do. He wasn't scared of her, but thinking back on their past history, he wasn't sure how she would react to seeing him again. Truth be known, Margaret wasn't sure how she should react to Trapper, either. She had never liked him, but he was one of Hawkeye's closest friends and maybe he had changed…

Margaret stepped in front of Trapper and looked him up and down. "Hello, Trapper" she said and hugged him, surprising them both.

He smiled "Hi there…Margaret…" Margaret smiled too. She released him and she noticed Hawkeye smile out of the corner of her eye.

Margaret turned to face the man next to Trapper. He smiled at her "What no big hello for me, Margaret?"

Margaret grinned "Charles! How great to see you!" She hugged him tightly "It's been so long!"

"I know" agreed BJ "I'd hate to say I missed the big lug, so I won't".

Trapper introduced Louise, Cathy and Becky to the group and Trapper was introduced to the Potters, Soon-Lee and Patty and reintroduced to everyone else.

"It's good to see you, Trapper" said Klinger happily after introducing Soon-Lee and his son, Sherman.

"And it's good to see you too out of dresses, old buddy" laughed Trapper, clapping the Lebanese on the arm.

"He wore dresses? But, Daddy, he's a boy. Boys don't wear dresses" said Becky, tugging on her father's arm.

Trapper laughed. "Honey, this is my friend Klinger. He wore dresses so the Army would think he was crazy and take him out of the Army"

"Did it work?" Becky asked Klinger, who laughed

"I wish. Instead of firing me, they promoted me!"

The group sat around reminiscing for hours until it was time to pick up Hawkeye's dad and Margaret's mom. Margaret went to the airport with Hawkeye instead of BJ, leaving the latter with the group. They split up upon arriving at the airport, since both flights arrived at the same time and said they would meet at the entrance of the airport.

"Dad!" called Hawkeye, waving as Daniel Pierce emerged from the plane.

"Hawk!" said Daniel and greeted his son with a hug "Where's Margaret?"

"Picking up her mom. We're meeting them at the entrance"

The Pierces met the Houlihans. Hawkeye and Margaret made introductions. Daniel greeted Margaret like a daughter, which pleased Margaret to know her almost-father-in-law was acceptant of her.

Hawkeye and Margaret brought their parents back to the hotel and stayed long enough to make introductions. Soon, they were back at the Hunnicut household. Peg entered the kitchen from the hallway as the three entered, looking none too happy. She said a quick hello to Hawkeye and Margaret, but had eyes only for her husband.

She pushed him up to the wall, with surprising strength for a petite woman and said "Where the hell have you been?"

BJ was shocked as Peg seldom swore. "Airport runs" he said as Margaret shoved a nosy Hawkeye from the room.

Peg snatched up the list that BJ had made earlier that day "Yes, but the last one ended at 4"

"Hawk and Margaret had to pick up their parents"

"You could have come home beforehand"

"I was visiting with the gang"

Peg's eyes narrowed "You're off gallivanting with your friends while your daughter is home sick"

"Oh, Peggy, it's a 24-hour flu, she doesn't need people hovering over her…"

"Don't 'Oh, Peggy' me! It's not just that. All day, she's been crying. She's afraid Hawkeye won't let her be flower girl because she got sick"

BJ laughed, which caused Peg to glare "What could I have done to stop that? I could tell her Hawkeye still wants her as flower girl until I'm blue in the face, but the only one she would have believed that from was Hawkeye"

"That's true, but I would have liked it if you had been here to help me. I just can't stand it when she cries and I can't stop it"

BJ pulled his wife into his arms "I know. I can't either. I'm sorry I wasn't here…"

"No" interrupted Peg, pushing away "You're right. All you would have been able to do was sit here with me. It's understandable that you want to spend time with your friends. You haven't seen them in years. Besides, I've handled Erin being sick alone before…I'm sorry, BJ, I shouldn't have said that" she said, noticing the look of sadness on BJ's face, which changed to realism immediately.

"So that's what you and Hawkeye were talking about for so long that night," realized BJ

"What night?" Peg arranged a look of what she hoped was confusal on her face "I'm sorry, BJ, dear, I don't know what you're talking about"

"You do so" smiled BJ "That night at _Angelo's_ when Hawk and Margaret told us they were getting married. We were talking about the time Radar came to visit you and Erin while the rest of us were still in Korea and you were about to say something and Hawkeye stopped you and you shoved him out and probably gave him the treatment you just gave me. Don't lie, Peg, my darling, you're so bad at it. You and Hawkeye were talking about the effects of the letter you wrote me and how I hated being away from you and Erin. I've never told you too much about that, which is how I knew"

"Hawkeye didn't want me to tell you about our conversation in the restaurant" said Peg quietly "He didn't want me to reopen any old wounds, was how he put it"

BJ smiled and pulled his wife into his arms again, but this time, she stayed "It's been too long for any of that to hurt me as badly as it used to anymore. It still hurts that I wasn't here when you needed me, but the other feelings, like jealousy of Radar for being the first person my daughter called 'Daddy' went away the second she called me by that name when you met me at the airport when I came home"

Peg was about to tell BJ something when the sound of Erin crying again brought BJ and Peg out of their private thoughts and brought Hawkeye and Margaret out of the living room.

"Oh," moaned Peg, forgetting whatever she was about to say, "I thought she was asleep"

"Hawk," BJ called "maybe you'd better go to Erin"

Hawkeye looked confused "Me? Why?"

"Because she's afraid you won't let her be flower girl because she got sick"

"I thought it was only a 24-hour flu"

"That's an idea she somehow got in her head" said Peg.

"Well have to get it out then, don't I?' said Hawkeye determinedly and went to Erin's room

"Hey there, what's the matter?" Hawkeye addressed Erin, who was in her bed, staring out the window "Your eyes are all red. Oh, I get it, you died them to match your flower girl dress. Nice look." he continued as he sat down on the end of the bed.

"The dresses are light purple" she mumbled morosely

"Oh right…Then what did you die them red for?"

Erin glared at Hawkeye "Didn't dye them. I've been crying and don' pretend you don' know"

"Did I?" Hawkeye said innocently.

"Stop that! I know why you came in here as well as you do!"

"Oh well, you think you know? Enlighten me then"

"What's that mean?"

"Tell me why I came in here"

"To tell me I can't be the flower girl anymore" Erin responded with a frown and looked like she was about to cry again.

"Shows what you know. Where did you get that idea from?" said Hawkeye, trying to hide a smile.

"From myself. You wouldn't let a sick girl in your wedding"

"Oh, excuse me, I thought that you were only gonna be sick for 24-hours, but shows what I know, right?"

"That will only be the big part of my sickness. The big part will only last for 24-hours, but littler parts will be in my body for days. That's what happened to Anna. And don't say I'm wrong 'cause Daddy told me all about how flus last for days and days and days! And you're getting married in two days, and Anna's been sick all week!"

"Erin…" laughed Hawkeye "Didn't your Daddy tell you about different kinds of flus? Your friend Anna, had a big type of flu, while you have only a little flu. By tomorrow, never mind 2:00 on Sunday, you'll be all right again"

Erin looked a little sheepish "Oh yeah he did. I forgot"

Hawkeye laughed "Oh yeah, you forgot" he ruffled her hair and pulled her to him. "You're my favorite girl, Erin. There's no one else I want to be flower girl, sick, well, or somewhere in between, remember that, because I don't want to have this conversation ever again, got that, kid?"

"Got it" Erin said "Hawkeye?"

"Yeah, Erin?'

"Are you sure you want to hug a sick girl"

"You forget, I'm a doctor. I'm not scared of sick people"

"Oh yeah,"

"Oh yeah"


	18. Chapter 17 Getting Ready

A/N: Part 2 of 2 of the 'Andrea feels bad and is putting up multiple chapters out of guilt' update! Thanks for all your patience! I haven't been receiving any death "You must update or face the firey doom of my wrath" flames, so I appreciate that! With any luck, I'll get up Chapter 18 relatively soon. With that said, enjoy the story and review both chapters 16 and 17! Thanks you, my loyal readers for your continuing reviews, support and all of that stuff. Makes a person feel good. grins (cause the stupid smiley face for some reason shows up as a Wing-Ding's circle-y thing.)

Disclaimer: -sigh Must we go through this again? For obvious reasons, namely the fact I am a 17 year old female whose name is _not_ Richard Hooker or Larry Gebhart, I did not create, produce, or fashion in any way, shape or form any of the characters in this story (well, with a few exceptions, but none too notable). I've just borrowed them for my own sick and twisted purposes and for your reading enjoyment, so don't hurt me please!

Mill Valley California

Sunday May 5, 1956

10:00 AM

"Hawk…Hawk c'mon, get up. Trapper figures we have enough time for a round of golf before we have to get ready" BJ called, shaking his best friend awake.

"Ready? Ready for what?" mumbled a bleary eyed Hawkeye.

BJ laughed "Your wedding, stupid"

"Is that today?"

BJ chose to ignore him and went to the door of the hotel room they were sharing.

"Time" mumbled Hawkeye

"10:00. C'mon, you in for golf or not?"

"How can you not be hung over from last night?" asked Hawkeye

"Mrs. Potter made coffee" said BJ

"Answer my question, how can you not be hung over from last night?"

BJ laughed "I just did. I had a cup of Mrs. Potter's coffee. Whew…she makes the strongest coffee that would sober up even the most drunk fellow…"

"Well, that would be me," mumbled Hawkeye "I'd better get some then…" He stumbled out of bed and over the shoes that he'd kicked off the night before after his bachelor party…

It had just been a quick, one-two-thing. BJ had a friend who owned a bar, who owed him a favor, so the friend had let the guys use the room for free, while the ladies had a small, impromptu bridal shower for Margaret at the Hunnicut household, which she hadn't expected because she wasn't used to having friends that would do something like that for her. They had had a fun time, cooing over the baby and begging Margaret to tell them what their men had been like in Korea. The men had gotten drunk (some, in Hawkeye's case drunker than others) and had a ball swapping stories and comparing life at the 4077th in Colonel Potter's day to when it had been under the late Henry Blake's rule. All during the two days from when everyone had arrived in California, to that day, including the wedding rehearsal, which had taken place the day before the bachelor party and the bridal shower, no one had seen hide, hair, nor heard mention of one Frank Burns ever arriving in Mill Valley. Hawkeye had been very disappointed to hear this, as he had been looking forward to seeing Frank's face when he learned that Margaret's groom was his most hated adversary.

BJ and Hawkeye went out to the living room. BJ immediately went over to where Trapper, Klinger and Radar were sitting. Hawkeye ignored them and stumbled over to the kitchen, met Colonel Potter and Father Mulcahy, ignored them too and spent 2 minutes gulping two cups of coffee. By the time he was finished, he understood how BJ had been so awake before.

"That," Hawkeye addressed Colonel Potter "was the strongest coffee my taste buds have ever had the privilege to meet"

Colonel Potter laughed "That was the work of my missus. Mildred can make a pot of coffee that's so strong, it can keep your taste buds blooming for a week!"

"My mom makes a pretty mean coffee too" spoke up Radar

"Then she's making the coffee tomorrow" said Hawkeye

"Hey, that's good. I hope you can taste it all the way in England" laughed Trapper

"What?!"

"That's right" remembered BJ with a smile "You're going to be on your honeymoon tomorrow, so unless we put a cup in a doggy bag, you're not going to be able to drink Mrs. O'Reilly's coffee"

"Oh yeah" Hawkeye remembered "Forgot about that"

"What a nice husband you're going to be" joked BJ and promptly got the paper cup that had formerly held Hawkeye's coffee thrown at his head.

Margaret hadn't wanted a honeymoon. Well, she wanted one, but she also was a Houlihan and as such, taught to scrimp and save every penny. She had assumed the trip to Mill Valley was a honeymoon and hadn't expected Hawkeye to come home one day, arms filled with travel brochures, asking her where she wanted to go for their honeymoon. He had a travel brochure for nearly every country in the world (though Margaret had noticed a lack of brochures from the eastern countries of Japan, China, etc.) It had been a toss-up between Hawaii and England, but they finally decided on England because Margaret had always wanted to visit there and since they had just spent two weeks in beautiful, sunny California and decided it was time for a change in weather.

Hawkeye went to sit on the sofa in the living room. "So where are the ladies?" he asked.

"My house" said BJ.

"They've been there since 8 getting ready" put in Klinger

"8?!" repeated Hawkeye, dubiously "What for?"

"The ladies always take longer to get ready" Colonel Potter shook his head "At least, that's the way it's always been in my day"

"They've got to do their hair, makeup and all that" added BJ

Hawkeye turned to Trapper "So what's this about golf?"

"Well," started Trapper "Way I figure it is, there's a golf course down the road. We've got a couple of hours until we have to get ready, so why sit around when we can go golfing?"

So, the group went golfing. They had a grand time, talking of whatever came to their minds. Hawkeye, BJ and Trapper made jokes and continually made fun of Charles' atrocious golfing skills. The game ended with Charles chasing the three around the golf course waving his putter and threatening to tie it around their necks. Trapper, still not used to Charles, feared that the Chief of Thoracic Surgery would hold a grudge against him and when they got back to work, he would take revenge on Trapper's job, since he was quite friendly, or as friendly as Dr. Winchester ever got with anyone, with Trapper's boss. Trapper had nothing to worry about, though. Charles was grinning at the end of his show and thoroughly surprised Trapper when he successfully tricked BJ into believing someone had stolen his car by hiding it behind a 'particularly useful clump of trees' as Charles so put it when he confessed to the deed later. BJ retaliated by stealing the laces out of Charles' best dress shoes upon their return to the hotel and after BJ returned them after a great deal of threats (on Charles' part) and laughter (on the part of BJ, Hawkeye and Trapper), the combined efforts of Klinger and Radar were almost not enough to shove Charles into his room, to keep him from retaliating.

Hawkeye fell onto his bed with laughter as he and BJ entered their room. BJ closed the door after hearing Charles' slam shut.

"That was great!" laughed Hawkeye as BJ sunk down on his bed, which was next to Hawkeye's "Best practical joking I've seen since you, me, Margaret and Charles dumped a bucket of beer on that Colonel friend of Potter's"

"You mean Colonel Daniel Webster Tucker? How could you forget that name?" grinned BJ

Hawkeye turned to the clock. It said '12:15 PM'. He then turned to BJ "Guess we'd better get going" he said then.

"Guess we'd better"

Hawkeye showered first, then BJ. Hawkeye stood in front of the mirror shaving better then he ever had. He was concentrating so hard on being clean-shaven, that he didn't hear the door to the bathroom open and didn't notice BJ was even out of the shower until he appeared in the mirror next to him. Hawkeye had left his shirt off, so not to get it messed up with stray facial hair. Hawkeye and BJ were silent. Hawkeye was still concentrating heavily on shaving and BJ was contemplating his own facial hair when something on his friend's body caught his eye

"Hawk," BJ laughed suddenly, breaking the silence

"What?"

"Your dog tags. They're still on"

Hawkeye looked at his bare chest to find the very familiar silver tags were still dangling from the chain around his neck. During the three years he had been in the war, he had gotten so used to them, the feeling of them on his chest that they felt like a part of him. He had forgotten their existence until just this moment. He picked them up and traced his index finger over the familiar words that were his name, blood type and religion.

"Wow," he murmured "I forgot about these. I suppose I should take them off" mused Hawkeye and did just that. They paused in silence again as if remembering thoughts from the war that neither of them had thought of for a long time. Hawkeye ran over the textures of the dog tags with his hand "It feels like they're trying to remind me of something. Or maybe to warn me," he mused

"Warn you about what, Hawk?" questioned BJ "It's not like you to be so superstitious"

"I don't know" chuckled Hawkeye, "It's really funny that they should pop up today of all days. On a day that's supposed to be so happy, a reminder of something so awful…" Hawkeye shook himself suddenly and ran a hand through his unruly blackish gray hair. "Okay no more pensiveness. This is my wedding day and I'm not going to be pensive". He moved away from the mirror to let BJ begin shaving his chin and flopped on his bed "And also, this is my last few hours as a bachelor and I'm not going to spend it being sad and depressed". He leaned over and deposited his dog tags into a compartment of his suitcase.

Hawkeye stood up again, put on his shirt and began combing his hair. BJ finished shaving his chin and moved to where two ties were draped over a chair. He threw one to Hawkeye, who caught it and moved back in front of the mirror to begin tying it. BJ finished his and went to help Hawkeye, who was uncharacteristically fumbling with his tie.

"Nervous?" asked BJ, pushing Hawkeye's hands away from his throat and taking over tying the tie.

"Nah, not really"

"Oh really? Then why did you look like you were trying to hang yourself with your tie?"

"I've never been married before. I also haven't tied a tie since my cousin Mary's funeral, which by the way was when I was seven"

"What about that old suit you used to wear sometimes in Korea?"

"Clip-on"

"Shoulda known" BJ laughed. He straightened Hawkeye's tie.

Hawkeye smiled "Thanks, Beej"

"No problem. What are friends for?"

"Beej, I want to thank you again for being my best man. You're my best friend, BJ. For two years, we shared a lot and I'm really glad you can share the best day of my life with me"

BJ smiled "No problem, Hawk. I am so happy for the two of you. Nothing can keep me from enjoying this day with the two of you. Nothing"

Hawkeye smiled too, knowing the full meaning of what BJ meant by 'Nothing'. The two went out to the sitting room to find Klinger, Trapper and Radar already assembled, looking very handsome in their tuxes that resembled the ones Hawkeye and BJ, who also looked very handsome, wore. Colonel Potter, also in a tux, and Father Mulcahy, joined them and finally Charles did the same, prompting jokes about vainess, toupees and one joke concerning something about shoelaces. Finally, the limousine that was to take the gentlemen to The Gardens arrived and they were off.

"Nervous?" Trapper asked, sitting in the limo.

"Nah" Hawkeye waved his hand away like he was brushing off the question like it wasn't important. Truth be known, the dark-haired surgeon was a little nervous, he wasn't sure why, but he was. He had no reason to be nervous; he had finally won the heart of the woman of his dreams, but there still was something; something nagging at the back of his head; he couldn't put his finger on it, but whatever it was, it was disturbing him because he wasn't happy when he so wanted to be. Maybe the appearance of his old dogtags had caused his brain to visit a place it hadn't visited in years and was causing him to remember the fear he had lived with for three years. Yes. That must be it. He tried to shake himself out of this revile, but found he couldn't. He had this hideous foreboding that something was going to happen, but he couldn't for the life of him, figure out what it was about...

A/N: DUNH DUNH DUNH! evil music plays What is Hawkeye having premonitions about? Is something about to happen, or is Hawkeye just going slooowly insane…No one knows…not even me…Ok that was a lie…heehee! The answer to these questions and others you might have will be answered next time on 'Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells'. What will make the update come faster, besides more free time for this author? Review! DUNH DUNH DUNH!


	19. Chapter 18 Mystery Guests

A man drove a car into a parking lot nearby a park called 'The Gardens' in Mill Valley, California. He parked the car, but instead of getting out, he sat there and watched the goings-on of the park. On a normal day, there would be people out walking their dogs or pushing baby carriages, having picnics and other stuff like that in T-shirts and shorts, but today, people were milling around in suits and dresses. Two tents had been erected and white folding chairs were flanking a long carpet, also of white that lay on the ground and led to two trees, which were a few feet apart from each other. Obviously, there was something going on and the man knew what it was. A wedding was happening here and he was a guest as was the girl accompanying him. He was wearing a brown suit that was not quite the same shade of his brown hair and clashed horribly. The girl was wearing a long, yellow, sleeveless dress. Her long brown hair, which normally was tied up in a ponytail, was hanging freely today. She didn't know the bride or the groom at all, but she was just there to please the man, who used to know the bride. She also didn't know why he was not getting out of the car. She turned to him and asked him just this. The man shook himself out of the past, laughed a little and got out of the car. The girl emulated him and together, they walked towards the rows upon rows of chairs and the group of men who were standing between the two trees...


	20. Chapter 19 And So it Begins

A/N: sniff You like me, you really like me! Well, after my extended absence, it's good to know that I was missed. Makes me feel special:) Thank you! I really appreciate all the reviews. I would comment on people's reviews, but I'm afraid I'm gonna give away something. So, just know you're all loved and immensly thanked ten hundred plus times over.

Anyway, this may be my last update for a little while for two reasons:

1) I've got three term papers to write due in the next few months, which I somehow have to write all three simultaneously. Should I be working on them now?Probably. Then again, it's 9:30 on Saturday night...there...there's my excuse...I am a horrible person, aren't I?

2) I kinda need to write the rest of the story. I wrote up the first 20 or so chapters before deciding to start posting them here about a year and a half ago now, I guess, but then I stopped working on it and started working on other things, posting chapters whenever I felt the need to. But now, I'm kinda running out of chapters, so I kinda have to start working again. I mean I have it all planned out, I just need towrite it.

The moral of this story:

Thank God it's school vacation week.

Thanks so much for all the support, I really do appreciate it, all jokes aside, keep on doing it and I'll keep on supplying you with my insane story. Soon to come: The actual plot! No more plot build-up! note to self: Never enter short story contest...

Disclaimer: I'm a short 17 and a half year old, who lives in Rhode Island, the smallest state in the entire United States. Do I own MASH? If you even think yes, I have only one question... What are you smoking and where can I get some? (joke)

Enjoy the show:)

-AEM

Hawkeye, BJ, Trapper, Charles, Radar, Klinger, Colonel Potter, and Father Mulcahy arrived at The Gardens. Father Mulcahy and Colonel Potter had gone to the bride's tent to tell the ladies that the men had arrived. Colonel Potter would stay there until it was time to walk Margaret down the aisle and Father Mulcahy would return to the trees when Margaret and her party were ready, or until two o'clock, whichever came first, though Hawkeye had joked that the second one was more than likely.

Hawkeye paced between the two trees, checking his watch every few minutes.

"Got a hot date after this, Hawk?" Trapper joked, earning a glare from Hawkeye

BJ wandered over to Hawkeye and mumbled into his ear "Thought you weren't nervous", making Hawkeye fix his glare on him now.

"Holy Toledo!" exclaimed Klinger suddenly, making Hawkeye stop his pacing and stare at Klinger

"What?" he asked

"Holy cow! Look who's here!" Radar saw what Klinger had seen and pointed to the parking lot. The five men looked towards the parking lot to see a medium height, brown haired man, in a brown suit, that looked horrible with his brown hair with a girl, also with brown hair, hanging down in a yellow, sleeveless dress walking towards them.

Hawkeye forgot his nervousness and began smirking broadly. BJ and Trapper smirked as well, Klinger and Radar bit their lower lips to keep from smiling and Charles used all the dignity and ability to keep a straight face he possessed in order to keep from laughing out loud. Hawkeye ran over to the man and yelled, quite loudly, which made many people stare outright at the groom acting out (actually, that was only Margaret's relatives, who never having met Hawkeye before, obviously weren't used to him yet and thought him a nutcase, which, in essence, he was. Hawkeye's friends and relatives, used to his zaniness, marked this down as normal Hawkeye behavior and went back to their lives), "Frank Burns! How great to see you again! Margaret will be so pleased you came!" and began pumping his hand, rather overenthusastically.

Frank Burns looked quite bewildered for a moment (not to mention his daughter), then smiled as he finished processing what Hawkeye had said "Gee, Pierce, you really think Margaret will be pleased I came?"

"Pleased doesn't even begin to describe it. I can't even think of any words to describe how she will feel" grinned Hawkeye, finally dropping Frank's hand, and trying quite hard not to think of how Margaret would really react when she found out Frank had indeed come.

"I'm actually surprised she invited _you_, Pierce. You and her never got along very well, if I remember correctly"

"Well, things changed after you left, Frank"

"Oh, how?" Frank asked interestedly

Instead of answering, Hawkeye turned and exchanged mischievous looks with the other men. Hawkeye and BJ had told the men the previous night about the plan to make Frank look like a fool. Everyone had been all for it, even Charles, for though he had never met the man, he had said he had heard quite enough about him to know that Frank needed to be harassed.

Frank looked around at the rest of the group and continued to put his foot even farther into his mouth than it already was, which is a feat only Frank can pull off "In fact," he said "I'm surprised to see all of you here. Margaret hated all of you, especially you two enlisted men" he said, referring to Klinger and Radar "and she also hated you two, McIntyre and Hunnicut"

"Nice to see you too, Frank" BJ mumbled sarcastically

"What's that supposed to mean?" Frank stared at BJ quizzically

"Oh nothing, Frank, nothing at all. . . "

Frank surveyed the group again and his eyes fell on Charles "Who are you?" he asked

"Did your mother not teach you any manners at all?" smirked Charles; glad to finally have a chance to goad the infamous "Ferret Face" Burns

"What's my mother got to do with it?" asked Frank, offended

"And you must have not gotten very good schooling if you cannot speak even the most basic English," mused Charles

"Oh, come now, Charles," smiled Hawkeye "not everyone can go to Harvard"

"You're right, Pierce," Charles stroked his nose "And Burns here is living proof of that statement"

Frank's mouth opened in a large 'O' and snapped closed. He narrowed his eyes, sniffed in outrage and walked off, dragging Stephanie with him.

The group burst out laughing as Frank and Stephanie (who was equally as mad as her father) stalked off.

"Pierce, I must thank you," Charles wiped tears of mirth away from his eyes "You gave me a perfect line with that statement about Harvard"

"Don't mention it, Charles" laughed Hawkeye

"And of course, you know I won't"

"Of course"

Father Mulcahy suddenly appeared at Klinger's shoulder. "What are you all laughing at?" he asked

"We'll tell you later, Father" laughed Trapper, knowing they didn't have the time to go into the whole story

Hawkeye was the next to put two and two together "Wait, you're here, that means. . . "

Father Mulcahy smiled at Hawkeye "Yes, Hawkeye. It's time"

As the men began to walk back towards the trees, Hawkeye realized that the nervousness that had plagued him earlier was there no longer. Maybe it was because the appearance of Frank caused his earlier premonitions to become long forgotten, but he was now no longer nervous and now anxious to see Margaret in the wedding dress that he hadn't been allowed to see. He knew Klinger's work. He knew it would be beautiful. Confidently, he arrived at the two trees, stood in his spot, and waited for the rest of his life to begin.


	21. Chapter 21 Frank's Secret Plan

A/N:Wow...it has been 5 months since my last update, it can't have been that long, can it? Oh it has! I really apologize to you guys, I mean you take the time to review, then I never post...To set the record straight, my lack of updates was not due to a sudden disinterest in my own story, it was just the time factor. Last I updated was in February, and I was writingtwo term papers, so all my energy was put into that (since I wasn't doing very well in either of the classes I was writing the papers for) and school in general cause that wasn't going well...then I finished the term paper and suddenly it's finals, then prep for graduation and prom and the actual graduation plus finding time for friends and boyfriend and the great attack of writer's block that hit didn't help either. So hopefully I'm getting over that, school's been over for a month and there's a sudden drop in my social life since my boyfriend broke up with me...

Not that you care about that or anything...Anyway, I apologize unreservedly for my lack of updates, I feel so horrible...I'm gonna try to update more (in fact I'm writing 2 chapters ahead now, I just don't have the second chapter on this computer, so once I get on the other one, I'll have the chapter after this for you all.

So enjoy and I hope you find it in the goodness of your hearts to still review and notyell atme for not updating. I'm gonna try to update a lot more, so hopefully here's the first of a steady flow of updates until we reach the end of this merry road...

Thank you so much for your patience, though it's probably wearing thin by now and I can't blame you, but I appreciate it all the same...

-AEM

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Frank stomped childishly to his rental car, Stephanie on his heels. Frank reached the car, and began to pout even more childishly. He crossed his arms and sadly stared down at his feet. Stephanie stood quietly for a while, but soon, she discovered she couldn't be quiet anymore

"Dad, your friends, for lack of a better word, are scum. They're really mean. I don't even see how you can call them your friends"

Frank was still silent.

Stephanie walked around her father so she was facing him. She touched him lightly on the shoulder "Daddy?"

Frank jumped a little and then stared at his daughter like he had never seen anything like her before "Oh hi Stephanie. Well, this was a nice trip to California, I think, don't you? Are you ready to go back to Fort Wayne, now?"

Stephanie stared at her father a minute before answering "No, Dad. I don't think this has been a good trip to California. And I'm not ready to go back to Indiana"

Frank stared at his daughter suspiciously "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Daddy. . . you can't just leave. You can't just sneak away and let these people walk all over you"

"It's. . . it's what I used to do and…I-I think I'll do it again" Frank said, a bit chagrined.

"You can't let them win. That's not fair to you. You shouldn't let Mom and Tiff and Jackie win and you shouldn't let them win. . . it's not fair to you. They have to know that they can't treat you like pond scum anymore, they shouldn't have been in the first place. Daddy, you have to stand up for yourself. It will make you feel better about yourself knowing that they can't hurt you anymore" noting her father's still skeptical look, she continued on "and if you can't do this for yourself, do it for me. I don't wanna see you hurt like this anymore" This cinched it. Stephanie was the only person in the world Frank cared about (excepting of course, Margaret – he still fantasized about one day Margaret coming to her senses, loving him and taking off with her and Stephanie to live happily ever after). He lived in secret fear of one day that Stephanie would wake up and see him as he was and not as however she saw him (because in his eyes, who could love him unless he was someone else other than himself?) and he would lose the only person that cared for him and that would kill him.

"All right, Stephanie" he said finally "I'll do it. I'll let them know I'm not scared of them anymore. But I need to do something big to prove to them that I'm not scared of anything and . . . " his beady little eyes darted back and forth, suspiciously, looking for eavesdroppers in the parking lot, empty, save the cars, and as if he half suspected to see BJ Hunnicut jump out from the hood of his car. He finally turned back to his daughter ". . . and I'll need your help, will you help me?"

Stephanie smiled "Of course I will, Daddy. I wouldn't let you do whatever it is you want to do alone"

Frank grinned and his chin disappeared.

"What is it you want to do, anyway?"

Frank's grin faded and his chin returned. He put an arm around his daughter "We-el it's a little dangerous…" he held up his index finger and his forefinger to show how little dangerous it was going to be.

"That's okay, Daddy, anything for you"

Frank grinned again "Okay. Good" he looked around again for eavesdroppers again before turning back to Stephanie and leaned down towards her "Okay, Stephanie, here's the plan…"

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Frank's plotting...never a good sign...


	22. Chapter 22 Joining Lives

The organist began to play. BJ leaned over to Hawkeye "Still nervous?" he asked.

"No." Hawkeye answered honestly "I'm not"

Hawkeye looked all around; first back at Father Mulcahy, standing with his Bible. The priest beamed at him. Hawkeye then looked down the line of his friends, willing to stand up with him, all between the trees as Margaret had imagined just a few short weeks ago. He looked at the gathered crowd, his father and Margaret's mother in the front row, Daniel trying to comfort his son's already crying soon-to-be-mother-in-law '_…wow…mother-in-law…_' was his next thought '_I'm gonna have a mother-in-law…_'

With that thought, Hawkeye continued looking over the crowd. There was Mrs. Potter and Mrs. O'Reilly in the front row too with little Sherman Klinger; the two older women fussing over the baby, like older women do, both of whom's parents were in the wedding party. The empty chair next to Mrs. Potter would soon belong to her husband after he walked the bride down the aisle. Behind them was Louise McIntyre, sitting between her daughters. Next to the McIntyres was Sidney Freeman, then Jack Scully. Hawkeye watched in some amount of surprise as Frank Burns and his daughter, whom he still didn't know her name, snuck in and grabbed two seats in the third row right behind Sidney and Scully. Hawkeye had thought the way he had been made fun of would have driven the ferret-man right back to Ft. Wayne, but he had stayed. '_Good_' Hawkeye couldn't help thinking '_He still doesn't know I'm marrying Margaret'_. BJ nudging him drove him from his devious daydreams. Hawkeye turned to him.

"Look…" was the only word that came out of his old friend's mouth breathlessly and indicated the start of the women coming down the aisle…

"Well, Doctor Freeman, long time no see" Sidney Freeman turned to see who was addressing him and was shocked to find a man he though he would never see again (and didn't regret it either). He hid all this and addressed the man civilly.

"Hello Frank" said the good doctor "How nice to see you again" he lied through his teeth.

"And the same to you, Sidney. This is my daughter, Stephanie."

"Hello," Sidney managed to choke out while the only thought running through his head was _'My god! Who let Frank reproduce!' _

"Hello," the young girl returned politely.

Frank leaned on the back of Sidney's chair, thus annoying the psychiatrist by elbowing him in the back of the head and surveyed the scene before them between the two trees. "Hmm…" he pondered out loud "The wedding's starting, isn't it?"

"Yes, Frank, it is" Sidney rolled his eyes.

"Then why is Pierce standing before Father Mulcahy in the groom's spot like he's the groom or something?"

"Maybe because he is the groom, Frank"

"What!" exclaimed the ferret.

Sidney gave him a weird look "Frank, get with it, where have you been, didn't you even look at your invitation? Look at the program, Frank" Sidney thrust a program at Frank, who grabbed it. He leaned back in his chair, and, with Stephanie looking over his shoulder, studied the front of the program. Much to his dismay, Frank discovered that Sidney was right. On the paper right before him, it said:

'_The Marriage Ceremony of:_

_Margaret Elizabeth Houlihan _

_&_

_Benjamin Franklin Pierce_

_Sunday, May 5, 1956_

_Two o' clock in the afternoon_

_The Gardens_

_Mill Valley, California'_

Frank looked from the paper to the smiling groom back to the paper "Oh Lord!" cried Frank quietly.

"Daddy, what is it?" Stephanie asked urgently

"Margaret…my Margaret…is marrying…HIM!" Frank pointed at the man in question

Jack Scully turned around and smirked at Frank "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's rude to point?"

"Who are you, sir, and why are you interrupting the private conversation between me and my daughter?"

Scully's face took on a bemused look "Don't you know?"

"No"

"I'm a person" Scully told Frank importantly.

"This must be a dream" mumbled Frank "I mean, this…this… totally random man begins talking to me about my _manners_ and my mother, which, by the way, whom you have no business even talking about. My Margaret is marrying my mortal enemy…"

"Listen, buddy" Scully said seriously "I don't even know how you know Margaret, but she ain't yours. Margaret is marrying my buddy, Hawk and if I hear you refer to her as yours again, I'm gonna knock your teeth in, got it?"

"Ohh" Frank realized "So that explains your oddness. You're one of Pierce's friends"

"You know Hawk too? How?"

"I don't believe that's your business"

"Fist meet teeth" Scully raised his fist .

"On the other hand…" said Frank nervously "Wait, that wasn't the original agreement. You said if I called Marg…uh…" Frank trailed off as Scully raised his fist again "I unfortunately roomed with Pierce and his despicable friend Hunnicut in Korea" Frank finally answered the question, hoping to avoid the meeting of teeth and fist.

Scully lowered his fist "You were in Korea with Hawk, Margaret, and BJ?"

"Margaret, yes; Pierce and Hunnicut, unfortunately"

Scully still looked confused and began mumbling, more then himself than anything, "That doesn't make sense though…when I was there Hawk and BJ roomed with…" Scully's rantings were cut off when the beginning strains of piano music began to be heard and Scully turned around immediately, forgetting all about Frank. Frank sat back in his chair and began mumbling to Stephanie.

"Ooh I still can't believe it. My…er…Margaret…" he glanced quickly at the back of Scully's head to make sure he didn't hear that he had called Margaret his own again and wouldn't be coming at him, ready to kill him, but Scully didn't even turn around, so Frank continued "…Margaret is marrying…"he lowered his voice even further "…_him_…" he pointed with a shaking finger. Frank lowered his mouth almost directly in front of Stephanie's ear and said "They tricked me. They wanted me to look like a fool by not telling me who she was marrying me. They wanted me to make a scene, but I won't. …Now our plan is more important than ever…" he looked at his daughter seriously "Stephanie, if you want out, this is your last chance"

"No Daddy, if something means this much to you, I want to be involved"

Frank smiled at his daughter and wrapped an arm around her as they settled back to watch the beginnings of the women walking down the aisle…

Erin was the first to walk down the aisle. She was grinning from ear to ear. She was wearing a dress similar to those of the bridesmaids and the matron of honor, which was a spaghetti-strap dress, in light purple, Margaret's favorite color and they were all holding a bouquet of baby's breath flowers. BJ grinned with paternal pride as he watched his baby walk down the aisle, throwing more baby's breath flowers as she walked. After Erin came Margaret's cousin Annette, then her friend Lorraine. Then came Patty. Hawkeye looked over at Radar, who was looking at his girlfriend lovingly like he noticed nothing else, which made Hawkeye smile. After Patty came Soon-Lee, and Klinger beamed. Next, was Peg, which gave BJ another opportunity to display his pride in his family for all to see. He grinned at his wife and she smiled back. Peg was taking her place next to Soon-Lee when the 'The Wedding March' began to play. Hawkeye's head whipped around to look down the aisle. No one there. Then suddenly…Margaret positively floated down the aisle, trying to look modest and demure, but failing miserably with the face-splitting grin on her face.

Hawkeye stared at her, mesmerized. "Klinger," he whispered, never taking his eyes off Margaret "That dress is gorgeous". Klinger smiled.

Margaret's dress was a creamy, off-white, off-the-shoulders dress, with cap sleeves that cut off about 6-inches below her shoulders. The dress clung to her in all the right places and flowed down to the ground. The bottom of the dress featured embroidered flowers and other decorations. Though Hawkeye couldn't see it at the moment, the back of the dress dipped down low, into a U-shape, to about mid-back, displaying the tan, acquired from 2 weeks spent in California. Her shoulder-length blonde hair hung down, curled softly to frame her face. Margaret approached their makeshift altar, Potter escorting her, looking ahead quite solemnly. Hawkeye was waiting for them just beyond the first row of chairs, a few feet from where Father Mulcahy stood, waiting to marry them. Margaret and Potter reached the altar then. Wordlessly, Potter kissed Margaret on the cheek, clapped Hawkeye on the arm and went to sit next down next to his wife, accepting the handkerchief she offered him. Hawkeye offered his arm to his soon-to-be-wife. He leaned down to her as they began the short walk to Father Mulcahy.

"God, Margaret, you look gorgeous" breathed Hawkeye

Margaret blushed "D'you really think so?"

Hawkeye looked at her seriously "I know so"

"Frank's here y'know. I saw him on my way in"

Hawkeye grinned "Yeah, I was with the guys before and we saw him"

"And you gave him a hard time?"

"Naturally"

"Tell me later?"

"Of course"

The happy couple reached the priest at that point and their conversation stopped. Father Mulcahy beamed down at the both of them. He then looked up at the group gathered around them.

"Dearly beloved, friends, family," he announced "We are gathered here today to bear witness as these two," he indicated Hawkeye and Margaret "become one in the eyes of God, in the eyes of all gathered here today, and more importantly, in the eyes of each other. Margaret and Hawkeye have had to overcome many obstacles to get to where they are today, the biggest of which being the fact that they were thrust in the middle of a war zone. Their genuine love for each other, spawning out of this war overcame all obstacles, including the biggest of them all, so if any two people deserve to become one, it is these two, but if anyone does not agree with this statement, if anyone sees reason why these two should not wed, speak now or forever hold their peace"

All eyes of anyone who had ever been at the 4077th MASH immediately focused on Frank Burns, who shifted guiltily in his seat, but did not say a word.

Father Mulcahy smiled and continued "In that case, Margaret Elizabeth Houlihan, do you take Benjamin Franklin Pierce to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, honor, and cherish, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

Margaret, who had been looking at Father Mulcahy, turned to look at Hawkeye. She smiled at him and her eyes brimmed with tears "Yes, Father, I do"

Father Mulcahy grinned wider "And you, Benjamin Franklin Pierce, do you take Margaret Elizabeth Houlihan to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

Hawkeye looked at Margaret, his electric blue eyes radiant with so much love for this woman in front of him "Especially the love, honor and cherish thing" he joked, but he became serious almost immediately "You bet I do"

Father Mulcahy looked as if his face would split neatly in two with the smile that grew on his face as his two close friends professed their love for each other. He looked like he was about to cry, but he held it in as he began to finish the ceremony "Margaret and Hawkeye have just exchanged vows to become one in a ceremony older than time itself. To seal this, they will exchange rings as well. May I have the rings?"

BJ, engrossed in the ceremony, took a minute to remember that he was the one holding the rings. He too, like the rest of the guests, began to look among the groomsmen to see which of them had the rings. It was only when he noticed they all were looking back at him he remembered that he holding the rings. He laughed "Oh right" and fished them out of his pocket "Here you go, Father", causing a laugh from the guests.

Hawkeye shook his head "Always have to steal the show, don't you, Hunnicut? Even at my wedding" he joked

Father Mulcahy fingered the two rings as the attention was put back on the ring. He held the smaller one out to Hawkeye "Slip this ring onto her finger and invoke the vow 'With this ring, I thee wed'"

"Got it" Hawkeye joked. He turned the ring around in his hands a few times, almost as if thinking _'Okay, this is it. Very last chance to back out'_, as if prepping himself for what he was about to do, but soon he stopped turning the ring. He stopped when he realized he didn't have to prep himself. He was ready. Not wasting anymore time, Hawkeye slipped the ring on Margaret's finger. He looked straight into her eyes, blue into blue as he repeated the words "With this ring, I thee wed"

Father Mulcahy apparently wasn't the only one ready to cry, Margaret looked ready to burst out into tears herself, but she managed to hold it in as she accepted the second ring from Father Mulcahy and repeated the vow that Hawkeye had told her "With this ring," she slipped the ring onto his finger "I thee wed"

Father Mulcahy addressed the guests "With this eternal, sacred vow completed, I now pronounce you husband and wife" He turned to Hawkeye with an impish grin. He knew what to expect "Hawkeye, you may now kiss your bride".

"The part I've been waiting for" Hawkeye grinned impishly back and grabbed his wife in a breath-defying kiss that lasted twice as long as the one between him and Margaret when they were saying goodbye at the end of the war. "Well, that was fun, let's do it again" Hawkeye said to no one in particular as he and Margaret broke away to quiet sniffs of impropriety and how the kiss had been longer then decently acceptable from Margaret's side of the family, laughter and comments on "Same ol' Hawkeye, he never changes does he? Always needs to make a show!" from Hawkeye's side of the family and shared smiles and attempts to avoid each other's eyes for fear of loud raucous laughter at an otherwise quiet, sacred ceremony from anyone who had ever been at or been associated with the 4077th MASH (with the exception of Frank and his daughter) for they were the only ones who knew what that prolonged kiss had been all about.

A/N: Yeah I so wrote a better wedding scene a while ago before The Most Annoying Writer's Block of Doom occured, but unfortunately for us all, I handwrote it and it disappeared from my room...I think I put it away somewhere, but I can't for the life of me remember where...It was really good too...Oh well, if I ever find it, I'll make sure to add it in.

Thanks for reading! And before you leave just give a quick tap to that little purple button down on the lower left of your screen. I love knowing people like the story! And the button likes you anyway, so you might as well leave one... Please? Thank you!


	23. Chapter23And the Walls Come TumblingDown

A/N: Hey there! And I'll start this update like I start most others…Sorry for the delay (hey, at least you got something you can always count on, AEM being unable to update on a regular basis). This chapter's excuse: I was having problems writing the next chapter after this and making it make sense and I kept having to change things in this chapter to make it fit in with stuff that happens in the next chapter, then while I was working on all that, I was moving into my dorm room, where they haven't put in internet yet, so when I finally finished working out all my problems with the next chapter, I couldn't even put it up, so I do it now while I'm home for Labor Day weekend. Hopefully, the internet will be up in my dorm soon (if not, I'll just use the computer lab or something) so I can put up the next chapter, cause we're finally coming to the end of the story! After two years! …Wow, I'm sad, aren't I? I'm thinking about 5 more chapters or so…

I'm also thinking of writing a sequel to this and perhaps also a prequel (someone requested one a while back). I've got ideas for both. Any takers? Lemme know!

And review this one! As if I have to tell you by now…I'm over 100 now, I'm really excited about this! Thanks everybody for everything and enjoy!

-AEM

"…So then he just leans over and kisses her and I swear…it musta gone on for about five minutes, wouldn't you say, Hunnicut? Then finally these two break apart, and wouldn't ya know, they acted like nothing had happened! He tells her "So long" and she responds with a nonchalant jerk of the shoulder and a "See ya"". Finally, this was too much for Colonel Potter, who, after chuckling throughout the entire story of Hawkeye and Margaret's goodbye kiss, which he was relating to Becky and Cathy McIntire, who hadn't understood the why Hawkeye and Margaret had kissed so long at the end of the ceremony, dissolved into laughter, which the rest of the adults at the table joined in with.

"Man, I would have given anything to see that!" Trapper exclaimed

"Oh me too, but then sometimes I felt like I had!" agreed Father Mulcahy

"Whaddya mean?" asked Hawkeye, suspiciously. He hadn't very much enjoyed the reliving of the now-infamous kiss. Not because he hadn't enjoyed the kiss, but because it was almost like they were making a mockery of his and Margaret's relationship, which, if the kiss hadn't happened, none of them would have been there in the middle of a Memories of the MASH 4077th Marathon, he reminded himself, a bit bitterly. For a group of people who claimed to be so happy for him and Margaret and claimed to have known it was going to happen all along, they didn't seem to have much respect for the event that had made this 'thing they had known all along' a reality.

"Don't you remember?" laughed Father Mulcahy "After the war ended I went to the 8063rd to help them disband along with Margaret and Charles. We were there for a week. During that whole week, Charles teased Margaret constantly about that kiss. He rehashed it so many times I felt like I was a witness to it myself!"

"Oh he did, did he?" mumbled Hawkeye, his annoyed mood not improved by this story "I'll have to talk to ol' Chaaales about that" he drawled, very annoyed now, glaring over at the offending man, a few feet away chatting with Margaret near the bar.

"Oh Hawkeye don't be such a stick in the mud. It was all in good fun. Besides, in response to Charles' teasings, Margaret got in a few good ones herself!"

Hawkeye was cheered up a bit by this. His improved mood improved a bit more when his wife…God, he couldn't stop saying that, he couldn't get over it…his _wife_ came over smiling that gorgeous smile of hers saying it was time for dancing.

The bride and groom traditionally danced the first dance alone. As the song ended, the rest of their wedding party joined them. Hawkeye and Margaret had been careful to arrange the members of their wedding party so that the ones that were a couple were paired together, so BJ was dancing with Peg, Klinger with Soon-Lee and Radar and Patty. As for the rest of them, Charles was dancing with Margaret's friend Lorraine, who had come to the 4077th the time they had swapped a doctor and a nurse for ones from the 8063rd and Margaret had remembered that Charles and Lorraine had gotten on very well together back then. The same seemed true now for Lorraine was laughing at something Charles had whispered into her ear, and she looked happier then Margaret had seen her in years. This left Trapper with Margaret's favorite cousin, Annette and they seemed to be enjoying the dance as well, thought Hawkeye noticed his eyes straying back to Louise a lot. Louise didn't seem to be mad that her husband was dancing with another woman; on the contrary she was happily chatting to Mrs. O'Reilly. Judging from Louise's nonchalant reaction to Trapper dancing with another woman, Hawkeye figured that Trapper had told Louise he hadn't cheated on her since Korea, and this plus the fact that Louise seemed to believe him, made Hawkeye happy. He was glad that his friend's marriage, which had always been somewhat shaky, was finally off the rocks that they had been on for so long.

The song ended and another one immediately started. Due to the fact the both Hawkeye and Margaret had only one remaining parent each and that parent was of the wrong gender for the traditional 'Groom dances with his mother, bride with her father' dance, they had decided all along to forgo that. Others joined them on the dance floor; Colonel and Mrs. Potter, Trapper had been the only one to abandon his former dance partner and he returned to his wife. Hawkeye's dad had asked Margaret's mom to dance and their children were pleased to see that they seemed to be enjoying each other's company.

A few songs later, Hawkeye found himself with no partner. Everyone wanted a chance to dance with the bride, and as such, he hadn't had a chance to dance with his own wife since the third song. Hawkeye took to observing the dancing instead. It was Colonel Potter's turn to dance with Margaret and he was spinning her around the floor with quite a great amount of strength for an older man. Colonel Potter's wife was dancing with Hawkeye's dad, Radar with his mother, Trapper and BJ had swapped wives and each seemed to be enjoying their new partner, and vice versa, which pleased Hawkeye for Peg hadn't seemed very happy lately, since she and BJ had been fighting quite a bit lately. Hawkeye wanted to chalk it up to the strain of having houseguests, but something told Hawkeye that that wasn't the reason at all, and it had more to do with whatever Peg hadn't told BJ last week, which Hawkeye knew still was bothering BJ. Hawkeye somewhat wished that she would just tell BJ whatever was on her mind, for if she did, they wouldn't be fighting, Hawkeye reasoned rationally. But then again, Hawkeye, remembering the incident where Erin as a baby called Radar 'Daddy' by mistake, thought that BJ had a tendency towards paranoia when it came to his wife and a habit of blowing things way out of proportion, so Hawkeye had a sneaking suspicion that it was BJ who was starting all the fights, since he had the habit of driving everyone around him crazy when he didn't know something that he thought he had the right to know.

"Thinking deep thoughts, Pierce? Shouldn't do that, might kill the few brain cells you have left."

Hawkeye, startled from his thoughts, looked up and smirked at Charles, who was coming towards him. "Very funny, Charles"

"I thought so. Not one of my better ones, I must admit" Charles sat down next to Hawkeye

"What's up with you?" Hawkeye frowned at him, knowing Charles well enough to know that it wasn't in that man's habit to admit something he said or did wasn't perfect "Where's Lorraine?"

"Getting waters. And what praytell makes you think that my mood swings or lack thereof have anything to do with her?"

Hawkeye smirked for Charles was distracted enough to feed him a perfect opportunity to make fun of him "Well you two seem quite chummy, in my opinion at least. You haven't left each other's company all night after all" Hawkeye grinned, and elbowed Charles kiddingly, raising one eyebrow "Something going on, eh, Charlie? We all going to be getting together for another wedding sometime soon? Or are you worried that Mumsie and Daddy won't approve?"

Charles scowled, though whether it was due to the tease about him and Lorraine, the fact that Hawkeye had called him 'Charlie' or the fact that Hawkeye had referred to Charles parents as 'Mumsie and Daddy' was unclear. "For your information, Pierce, not that you have any right to know any aspect of my personal life, might I remind you, that I have not seen Lorraine in many years, so there is little chance of anything more serious than a few casual dates between Lorraine and myself anytime soon. Not to mention that if something did possess me to introduce her to my parents, I would neither care what they thought, even if they thought she was the devil himself, nor would I even want to put her through that torture, for that matter"

Hawkeye stared at his friend. "Those are pretty harsh words, Charles. Something happen between you and your parents? I notice that they aren't here. I know Margaret invited them and Honoria."

Charles shoved back his chair quickly and loudly "For God's sake, Pierce! For the last bloody time! If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, since we shared that abominable hellhole you called a tent in Korea, you have no more right to know what goes on in my personal life than you did back then and most certainly not what happens between myself and my so-called parents! Quit bothering me, got that, Pierce!" And with that, Charles stalked away towards Lorraine, who was coming over with the drinks, and looked a bit surprised when Charles grabbed her arm and led her to the other side of the room.

"What's with Charles?" BJ asked, approaching Hawkeye.

"I dunno," Hawkeye stared after the balding surgeon "I was teasing him about Lorraine and I mentioned his parents and he just blew up. I think something happened between him and his parents, but he won't say what it is. I'm kinda worried, Beej, Charles had always been kinda secretive when it came to telling us about his personal life, but it's not like him to behave this way"

BJ's face mirrored the concern that Hawkeye felt "I dunno either, Hawk" he said slowly "I would ask him, but I know I'd just get the same riot act I overheard him read you. But you're right, it is unlike him to treat either of us this way. He's always treated us with contempt, but not this kind of contempt. But, Hawk, it's your wedding day, don't let it bother you"

"You're right, Beej" Hawkeye admitted "The thing I will let bother me is the fact I haven't danced with my own wife in over an hour"

BJ grinned "And it's gonna be even longer now, buddy. It's my turn to dance with the bride" With that, BJ walked away and cut in where Margaret was dancing with Colonel Potter and began dancing with Margaret.

Despite himself, Hawkeye grinned broadly and shook his head. He went back to observing the actions of his friends. Klinger and Soon-Lee were walking, hand in hand out of the room. Hawkeye assumed they had been checking on their baby, who was with the rest of the children; Becky and Kathy McIntyre and Erin Hunnicut, all under the watchful eye of Frank's daughter, Hawkeye had forgotten her name again…right, it was Stephanie…But as Hawkeye studied the children, all grouped together so their parents would be able to enjoy themselves without their children underfoot, he noticed Stephanie Burns wasn't among them, which somewhat annoyed him as Stephanie had been the one to offer to keep an eye on the children so their parents wouldn't have to worry, and now she was gone. She had set up the kids in a room exactly across the hall from the ballroom they were in now. You could see what was going on in that room from the ballroom and vice versa. But perhaps Hawkeye just felt this contempt towards Stephanie because he hated her father so much…Hawkeye scanned the room and finally found Stephanie entering the ballroom with Frank. He had his arm around her and was whispering into her ear. Whatever he was saying, didn't seem to appeal to Stephanie, because she was frowning at her father, but Frank, noticing this in an act of observation Hawkeye wouldn't have thought possible from Frank, squeezed her arm and said something, which seemed to make Stephanie happy. She smiled and Hawkeye could clearly see her mouth move to form the words "All right, Daddy". Frank grinned, or at least that's what Hawkeye thought he was trying to do. It wasn't really clear since his eyes turned even more squinty, his forehead wrinkled and his chin disappeared, so he could have been constipated for all Hawkeye knew, but Hawkeye had the feeling that whatever Stephanie was agreeing to made him happy for he gave the girl a hug and she went back over to the children, where Peg had joined Klinger and Soon-Lee to check on her own child. Frank on the other hand dropped his so-called smile the second his daughter left his presence. He jammed his hands into his trouser pockets and frowned. His beady little eyes darted back and forth and left the room again, scowling.

Hawkeye suddenly had a bad feeling. He suddenly realized that he had barely seen Frank all evening, not that he had missed him or anything, but Frank had only been in the room for the food and that was it. He had been highly conspicuous by his absence, especially considering that he had left his daughter there the entire time, in the company of relative strangers. Hawkeye was also surprised when he remembered that, with the exception of the initial incident when Frank had walked into the wedding and gotten made fun of by the men of the wedding party, he hadn't raised a stink about anything. He hadn't gotten angry and crazy when he learned that Margaret's groom was none other than his most hated adversary, who had, once again gotten something he desired. In fact, Frank had taken the entire thing quite well, he had even congratulated Hawkeye quite politely when he was going through the receiving line after the ceremony. Yes…Frank was taking the entire thing quite well…too well in fact and that, plus Frank's obviously sneaky actions were what was scaring Hawkeye. When Frank was plotting anything, it never came to anything good.

"Penny for your thoughts, Hawkeye?" a female voice asked, startling Hawkeye from his thoughts. He blinked up at Peg Hunnicut, who was coming up to Hawkeye

"It's probably nothing" Hawkeye murmured, more to himself than anything, too busy watching Frank standing at the private door that led to the outside from the private room of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in which the ceremony was being held.

Peg moved closer to Hawkeye, her eyes moving from studying Hawkeye to look in the same direction in which he was staring to try to figure out what he was staring at. "You sure?"

Hawkeye shook his head, trying to get thoughts of Frank out of his head. It was _Frank Burns_ for God's sake. He couldn't have a sneaky thought to save his life, Hawkeye tried to convince himself his imagination was running away with itself, like it was prone to do. Determined to get Frank out of his mind, he asked Peg to dance.

The two approached the dance floor and began to dance. BJ and Margaret danced close enough so the two pairs could talk

"Hmmm…nice partner you got there, Hawkeye" commented BJ dryly, raising his eyebrow mockingly towards his wife, making her laugh

"And yours" returned Hawkeye, mirroring BJ's grin "Wanna trade?" he waggled his eyebrow at his own wife, who grinned back

BJ pretended to ponder "Nah…" he finally said, remembering that Hawkeye had complained about not being able to dance with his wife for ages and began to dance Margaret away.

"Nice seeing you again, Margaret" Hawkeye kidded

"Funny, Pierce. Next dance, is all yours." Margaret raised her own eyebrow mockingly in a fully conscious imitation of her husband, who grinned at this.

Hawkeye laughed and watched the figure of his wife dance away with a look of awe in his eyes "God I love her" he said softly

"I noticed, actually" Peg commented

Hawkeye laughed again, this time at Peg "Oh did you?" he raised his eyebrow again, this time at Peg.

"I did actually. You guys make a great couple, you know"

"I know. And I am the half that makes it great, of course"

Peg pretended to ponder that for a minute "Nah" she said finally

Hawkeye let out a bark of laughter "Oh you think that do you, well as for you and BJ, you wanna know what I think of that?"

But what exactly Hawkeye thought of Peg and BJ was never discovered for as Hawkeye went to say the next part of his sentence, Peg, who had been laughing hysterically, suddenly stopped and doubled over.

"Peg? What's wrong? Are you okay?" asked Hawkeye, a touch of fear infiltrating into his voice and unconsciously looking over his shoulder for BJ, but BJ was on the other side of the room with Margaret near the back wall; the only wall in the room that overlooked the back lawn of the hotel.

"Yeah I'm fine" Peg waved away Hawkeye's hand of support, but remaining doubled over "I just need to sit down a minute" she straightened, with visible effort and pain and began walking over to their table.

"Fine my ass" declared Hawkeye, following her "People just don't double over in pain for no good reason, Peg. There's gotta be a reason for this one. I should know, I am a doctor after all. Have you forgotten, you can't fool me, or BJ or half the people in this room for that matter by trying to tell them that you didn't double over in pain for a reason. Hell, even Frank knows that, for God's sake! Well, probably not Frank…" he said after a moment

Peg and Hawkeye reached the table at this point. Peg looked up and fixed Hawkeye with a glare "For your information, Hawkeye Pierce, I did not double over in pain, I'm suddenly feeling dizzy and nauseous, if you must know, though why you think you have the right to know is beyond me"

Hawkeye was speechless for the moment. For one thing, this was the second time in the course of an afternoon he had been delivered this lecture that he didn't have the right to know something, from two separate people and for another thing, Peg didn't speak so harshly to anyone, much less him, they had always gotten on quite well together whenever he had visited. Despite all this, Hawkeye fixed her with a look that signaled that Hawkeye had stepped out for a moment and Dr. Pierce had taken over "But Peg," he protested "if you're sick, you should lie down and have someone look at you. You might have caught that flu that Erin had, and if so, you shouldn't be here. We're in a hotel, you can lie down in someone's room and someone can take a look at you. And you can even have your pick of doctors" Hawkeye tried to insert a joke, seeing Peg's face darken even more with annoyance.

She went to speak, but what she was going to say was left unsaid and what she said instead was a curt "Excuse me" and she swept by Hawkeye and made a beeline for the bathroom off the hallway that led into the room from either the hotel or the outside door, which Frank was no longer standing by, not that Hawkeye cared about that anymore. He was filled with concern for Peg. And he still needed to find BJ, he needed to know his wife was sick. Scanning the dance floor for BJ, he found her still with Margaret, exactly where they had been when Hawkeye had been looking for him before. He stepped towards the dance floor when suddenly someone stepped into his way.

"Excuse me, Dr. Pierce?" Stephanie Burns was looking up at him nervously

"Yeah, it's Hawkeye" mumbled Hawkeye distractedly, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes (dammit he had forgotten to get a haircut, fine time to remember…and how had he gotten away with that with Margaret around, anyhow?)

"Yes, Hawkeye" Stephanie blushed furiously "Erin wants to talk to you. She wanted to know why her mother just ran out of the room. She wanted to come over herself, but I wouldn't let her cause there's a lot of people around, so I left her with Cathy and Becky and told her that I'd go get you"

"Yeah, okay, I'm coming" Hawkeye said, still distracted. He glanced over at BJ and Margaret again. He supposed that Erin took precedence and he would talk to BJ in a minute…

Meanwhile, Margaret laughed uproariously after leaving the company of Hawkeye and Peg. She looked after her husband, dancing away as she leaned on BJ for support "God I love him" she said finally, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes

"You know what, I noticed that" commented BJ

Margaret shot him an amused look "Oh did you?"

"I did actually. You guys make a great couple, you know that"

"Oh I know," she smiled fondly at her husband's figure "But of course…" she changed her gaze for the first time to study BJ rather than Hawkeye "You're just saying that because your best friend's part of the couple" she poked him lightly to let him know she was teasing

BJ caught on immediately "You got me, Margaret. No, seriously, you guys are great together. You know when I first got to the 4077th, even though you fought constantly back then, I had a feeling you two would be great together."

Margaret laughed "Even though we hated each other?"

"Yeah…well the real thought was 'If they could get along for five minutes without trying to kill each other, they would be great together'. And I see my thought was right"

"You were right, BJ" Margaret said, softly, her gaze returning briefly to her husband, before coming back to BJ when he addressed her.

"Are you happy, Margaret?" BJ asked, his voice full of compassion

"Oh God, BJ, yes! Happier then I've ever been in my entire life. Nothing, not even the Army has made me feel this fulfilled, like for the first time ever, I'm actually doing things right…doing things right for me"

BJ smiled "I could tell. It's great to see you so happy. I've never seen you like this, so happy…so content with yourself. You're positively glowing, Margaret."

"Oh it's hard not to, BJ. I never knew it was possible to be so happy being just what you are, rather than being happy for the possibility of improvement, which is the only way I knew to be happy back in Korea...back when I was in the Army. Hawkeye finally helped me realize that there is nothing more important than being happy with yourself, not even improvement in a job. That there's more to life than the moving up the work ladder. Those were the words I was looking for, the man I was looking for. Someone who liked me for me, not because of my rank or because I was looking for a way to get to the top. Someone who thought that because I was who I am, I already was at the top of the only ladder that counts"

"Hey Margaret" BJ smiled down at his friend "You remember on the day when we left Korea that I told you that I hoped you find a good man because you deserve the best?"

"Of course. I've never forgotten"

"You did"

"Oh BJ…" Margaret breathed and leaned into BJ, wrapping her arms around him in a hug, squeezing her eyes closed to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. BJ squeezed her back, wrapping his arms tightly around Margaret, but the arms suddenly squeezed tighter, not in love, but in protection as the next thing the two suddenly heard a great rumbling sound sounding like it was coming from overhead, and suddenly all over. But this was the last thing they heard as the walls came tumbling down…


	24. TheRealChapter24 Realizations

A/N...Yeah...I'm an idiot...I forgot that a while back I uploaded an apology note cause my time between updates had gotten ridiculous again due to my worst enemy..._writer's block_ and I uploaded it as a chapter, thus making my chapter numbers here not match with the ones on my hard drive. i forgot this and apparantly, I made a mistake in typing in chapter numbers when I was uploading once and used the one from my hard drive, and I didn't even notice, thus messing up my chapter numbers and making methink I had already uploaded this one, but I hadn't.So, sorry about that. Apparantly, the story can be read and make sense without this chapter, but I make references to it in a later chapter and it's a lovely little filler, I think, so here you all go, for your reading pleasure...And now I'm off to make the real update :) Enjoy!

-AEM

Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells

Chapter 23 - Realizations

"Hawkeye…Where'd Mama go? She went running past, she didn't even say hi or look at me or anything. Is she mad at me?" Erin asked tearfully, running towards Hawkeye, who was approaching with Stephanie close on his heels.

Hawkeye scooped up the young girl into his arms and held her close "Oh no, baby, your mom's not mad at you. That's not it at all. She just wasn't feeling well and she needed to hurry to the bathroom, that's why she didn't stop." He reassured the girl, distractedly, still keeping an eye on her father.

Erin pulled away from leaning on Hawkeye to look him in the face "Does she have the sickness that I had? You can make her better right, Hawkeye?" Erin asked anxiously. Fully confident in her honorary uncle's ability to make anything that wasn't right better.

"I would, sweetie and so would your Daddy, but your Mom isn't telling us what's wrong with her. I don't even know if she has the sickness that you had"

"But…but…"Erin's lower lip trembled "Since she won't say what's wrong, does that mean cause she won't get treated, that she's gonna die?"

"What!" Hawkeye looked stunned at this pronouncement, which threw all thoughts of needing to talk to BJ out of his mind as Erin began to cry full-force tears "No, Erin, of course not! Where are you getting all this?" He asked, furiously, but there was to be no intelligible answer from the young girl "No…no…sweetie, don't cry, don't cry, baby. Uncle Hawkeye will make everything better, you know that…" he tried to sooth, using the full confidence the girl had for his doctoring abilities, a fact that made Hawkeye feel very good about himself, to his advantage, stroking her hair, reassuringly.

A sudden, very loud rumbling noise, made Erin, who had begun to calm down, and all the other children around her and Hawkeye scream with fright. Erin clung to Hawkeye even tighter than before, her tears renewed. Hawkeye clung Erin even tighter to himself, partially out of a need to protect this young girl he cared so much about and partially as life support to keep his own self here with her rather than dragging his mind kicking and screaming back to Korea. This sound reminding him so much of the sound of bombs he had heard so often back in Korea, that had scared him senseless back then and just as much now.

As suddenly as the noise started, it stopped again. The only noise that didn't stop was the sound of screaming, which Hawkeye suddenly realized wasn't coming only from the children. Hawkeye opened his eyes; he hadn't even been conscious of closing them…and spun around, Erin still clinging fiercely to him in his arms towards the other children. Baby Sherman was crying furiously in the arms of Stephanie, who looked quite frightened, herself. Kathy had her arms protectively around her younger sister, Becky, though she was crying just as hard as her sister. For the first time in quite a long time, Hawkeye found himself at a loss for words out of fear.

Klinger and Soon-Lee came rushing over at that point. Klinger snatched his baby out of Stephanie's arms, while Soon-Lee thanked Stephanie for protecting her baby in a rapid mix of English and Korean. Stephanie nodded distractedly and ran from the room as soon as decently possible, presumably to find her father. Trapper and Louise were the next to arrive throwing their arms around both of their daughters.

"Hawkeye, what was that!" Radar yelled as he ran over flanked by his mother and girlfriend, much more like the flustered Radar he had been back in Korea, rather than the cool, calm, collected Radar of today. "First there was this loud boom…" he spread his arms wide to illustrate how loud the boom was "…and now the back wall of the ballroom's on fire!"

"I dunno, Radar" mumbled Hawkeye, not really paying much attention, focusing more on the sobbing child in his arms rather than the conversations around him.

"An earthquake, maybe?" Klinger suggested, trying desperately to sooth his baby son.

"I dunno, Klinger" Hawkeye mumbled, just as distracted

"Oh come on, Klinger, get serious. An earthquake wouldn't light the room on fire" protested Trapper

"Oh yeah…"

"Pierce, everyone all right?" Colonel Potter asked, arriving on the scene with his wife and Father Mulcahy close on his heels, Charles and Lorraine not far behind. Lorraine was clinging to Charles' hand, something which, under normal circumstances, Hawkeye would have teased Charles mercilessly about, but seeing how these weren't normal circumstances and that Hawkeye had more important things to worry about, he found he couldn't care much.

"Yeah everyone's fine"

"Everyone accounted for?" Charles asked, his voice rapt with attention

"Uh…yeah I think…I dunno, BJ has the guest list…Klinger, do me a favor, go find BJ and tell him to get his ass and his guest list over here" Hawkeye ordered, more forcefully than he had meant, his mention of his best friend, awoke thoughts of fear when he began to wonder why BJ hadn't come over to check on his kid like the rest of their friends had with their kids. But these thoughts were driven almost immediately out of Hawkeye's mind as Erin, hearing the mention of her father's name, began to scream for her father, her mother, and pretty much any member of her family.

The entire group swooped down on Erin, trying to calm the five-year-old down.

"Erin!" yelled a voice suddenly, mingled with fear

Erin looked up from where she had pressed her tear-streaked eyes into Hawkeye's shoulder, desperate for comfort "Mama!" the young girl screamed, and began to wiggle out of Hawkeye's arms.

The group parted to reveal Peg, who looked shaken, but ready to receive her daughter. Erin was transferred from Hawkeye's arms to Peg and Peg hugged the young girl to her.

"Oh God…" Peg's voice shook, but steadied almost immediately as she looked up at Hawkeye "Hawkeye, what happened?"

Hawkeye briefly wondered why everyone assumed that he knew what was going on any better than any of them and why they were automatically deferring to him as their leader. It felt good, yes, but confusing all the same. Hawkeye opened his mouth to speak, though what he was going to say to reassure his friends not even he knew, when Klinger returned, vividly pale under his dark Lebanese skin "Hawk!" he ran towards the group and began to talk breathlessly "I looked everywhere, I can't find BJ anywhere!"

"What!" Hawkeye and Peg asked in unison

"Maybe, he's in the bathroom" suggested Radar, desperate to find any conclusion that didn't involve doom and despair

"No, can't be" Charles waved away that conclusion "I was there mere minutes before the explosion, I only just managed to get back…" he trailed off and squeezed Lorraine's hand unconsciously "Hunnicut wasn't there" he concluded

"He cut in with me dancing with Margaret, that was the last I saw him" Colonel Potter offered

Whether Hawkeye heard any of this conversation was unclear for after Klinger had come back with the information that BJ didn't seem to be present, he went back to the last time he had talked to BJ…they had been at the table talking about Charles…no that wasn't it…BJ had been dancing with Margaret, Hawkeye remembered after vaguely hearing from Colonel Potter that BJ had cut in with him and Margaret…he had been with Peg…Hawkeye looked up at Peg, who was looking at someone, he didn't look to see who, tears threatening to fall out of worry for her husband…Peg had gotten dizzy…he had wanted to find BJ, but then Erin's fears and the explosion had put all thoughts of BJ out of his mind. BJ had been over near the outside wall. Hawkeye looked up quickly, half expecting to see BJ coming towards them, shaken, but still smiling that cheesy smile of his, but he wasn't. All Hawkeye saw was the wall…the caved in wall…That must have been where the explosion had taken place, Hawkeye hadn't thought to look for where it had happened, more concerned for the children than anything else, but he looked now for that was the last place he had seen BJ Hunnicut.

That was when Hawkeye remembered something else. He hadn't connected the two items together before, he would never be able to figure out why he hadn't, probably due to fear, preoccupation with other matters and the inability due to all of this to focus on more than one matter at a time. BJ was missing, last seen near the now caved-in wall. Now he remembered. Margaret had been with him.

Hawkeye's insides froze. "Hawk, what's the matter?" Trapper asked. Hawkeye hadn't even realized anyone was looking at him.

Hawkeye pointed a shaking finger at the caved-in wall. "There…" he said hoarsely "He was there…BJ was over there, I was the last to see him before I turned to talk to Erin…Margaret was with him"


	25. Chapter 25 The Morning After part 1

A/N: Yay for the internet FINALLY being up in my dorm room, so I can FINALLY update…now I never get offline, but whatever… shrugs

Okay, just to let you guys know, I'm not a scary, psycho-terrorist freak because I know how to make a bomb, I'm just a 5-ft tall obsessive, OCD, loser-freak girl who owns a copy of the book _Fight Club_, which is where I got all the info on bomb-making. It's there, both in the movie and the book, I swear! Watch it or read it if you don't believe me! And if you still think me to be an obsessive, OCD, loser-freak girl, blame my cousin who got me hooked on and obsessing over _Fight Club_ (and bought me the book for my birthday).

And to further prove to you guys that I am in need of a life, I'm starting to write the chapter titles below my long, random, stupid author's notes, cause I've actually been thinking of good ones for a change and fore reasons passing understanding, they're not showing up on the chapter list even though I type them in everywhere humanly possible. (they also make good dividers between my author's note and the actual story cause nothing else seems to work for me.)

Okay, that's it for now, hope you guys like it! And review please! Reviews are what I live for! I heart reviews!

Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells

Chapter 24 – The Morning After Part One

Hawkeye sat morosely in the room where just the day before he had been so happy. He had danced with his wife, laughed with his best friend, all unknowing of the doom that would befall them mere hours later.

The police had come and almost immediately found shards of glass around the scene of the accident. They found large ones that smelled strongly of gasoline and orange juice. They called in the bomb squad, who predicted that gasoline had been mixed with orange juice, lit on fire and tossed through the open window where it exploded. The small size of the bomb explained why the explosion was pretty much confined to the dance area. Their next step was to hire professional excavators to dig though the rubble from the caved-in walls to look for survivors. Hawkeye had already been over there. They told him that it looked good, but that they had a window of 48 hours in which to find Margaret and BJ. If they hadn't found them by the end of the 48 hours, they would most likely be dead, either from malnutrition or suffocation. Hawkeye had been hoping to help, but was told in no uncertain terms that he would be more getting in their way than anything and asked to leave the scene of the accident. He had retreated to the other side of the room, back to the table where he had sat the day before, eating with his wedding party, the rest of his friends not far away, having the time of his life.

The rest of his friends took it in shifts to keep vigil with Hawkeye, who was the only one of them to stay the entire day. Hawkeye stayed because he wanted to be on the scene when BJ and Margaret were. The women stayed at the Hunnicut house where they habitually grouped, more for moral support than anything. When the Ritz Carlton had been evacuated, the few guests, who hadn't hopped the next plane in fright, had all been given rooms at a nearby hotel, but mostly, the gang grouped at the Hunnicut house, where the men went when they weren't at the ballroom and the women stayed to cook for the children, sending food to the ballroom for the men and consoling Peg, who was quite distraught with worry over her husband. She didn't show it much for fear of worrying her daughter, but when Erin went to bed was another story…

Hawkeye shoved the hardly touched plate of food that the women had sent out from in front of him. On second thought, he threw it into a nearby trashcan, not wanting to get yelled at by one of his friends when they discovered he wasn't eating. He hadn't eaten since his wedding and the constant nagging to eat was driving him crazy, but he was too worried to eat. Colonel Potter was the worst offender in the 'nagging him to eat' category. He and Father Mulcahy had officially taken on the job of food transporters and they usually stayed for a few hours after delivering the meal. Father Mulcahy had been mostly silent, instead choosing to pray, which only served to be a constant reminder for Hawkeye of what the good father was praying for. Colonel Potter had gone back and forth between nagging Hawkeye to eat and trying to get him to laugh over some stupid memory back from Korea, or on something one of the kids had done back at the house. It seemed somewhat wrong to Hawkeye to laugh here, so the Colonel's attempts had more annoyed Hawkeye than anything and he was glad when Colonel Potter and Father Mulcahy finally left. He was quite fond of the both of him and he appreciated their attempts to make him feel better, but none of that was what Hawkeye needed right now. He needed his wife and best friend back.

Klinger and Radar had left a few hours ago. Like Hawkeye, they had left the ballroom only to change out of their tuxes, but had been there from then on. Unlike Hawkeye, they had left, unable to survive longer than 24 hours without sleep. Hawkeye drew on his past in Korea, trying to survive for sometimes weeks at a time without sleep. They all had done it, but though he had been the one to complain most, Hawkeye seemed to be the only one who remembered how to do it.

Charles and Trapper were there now, but they had wandered off together soon after arrival, both claiming they were too anxious to sit for too long. They were off looking for clues, trying to figure out who had set the bomb, for this was the one thing that baffled the police and they still had no suspects, but Hawkeye seriously doubted that his friends would be able to find anything that the police had overlooked and had said that much to them when they invited him to join them, to which they had confessed that they were doing this more to keep their minds occupied than anything. As for Hawkeye, he was too miserable to do anything other than sit down and think and feel sorry for himself and he knew himself well enough to know that no amount of anything, even booze would be able to distract him from his worries. For he found he didn't really care whether whoever had set the bomb was caught or not. They could go free for all he cared, as long as Margaret and BJ were all right. If they weren't…well, that was another story.

Movement near the doorway caught Hawkeye's eye and he turned his head sharply to find out what it was. Frank Burns hovered near the doorway. He stood there for a moment, almost as if debating whether or not to enter the room. Apparently, he decided against it, for he walked towards the room across the hall. Frank was the only other guest who stayed after the explosion, other than the old 4077th gang, Daniel Pierce, Olivia Houlihan, and Lorraine Anderson, everyone else had cleared out the second after the explosion. Frank was also the only other person who had stayed at the ballroom as long as Hawkeye, though what he was doing or why he was even there was unclear to everyone; he hadn't spoken to anyone either, though Hawkeye found he didn't care about that either.

As for Frank's daughter, Stephanie, she had gone back to the Hunnicut's with everyone else. She had been elected baby-sitter again to keep the children out from underfoot as their mothers and all the other females in the house went on huge cooking and baking sprees to keep their minds off everything. The kids had holed up in Erin's room, seeking reassurance in each other and in Stephanie when the women were busy that the 'big boom' wouldn't happen again.

Erin, when she wasn't sobbing that she wanted her daddy, was sullen and silent. She sat by day by the window in her room, which looked out into the front yard, hoping against hope that her daddy would magically reappear and she would see him coming up the walk. Obviously, he hadn't and every night when she was told to go to the bed, she took up her sobbing once more. Nothing could distract her from this, not even playing with her new friends, Becky and Cathy McIntyre, whom she still played with, never losing sight of the window, but without the enthusiasm she had had before. Strangely, Hawkeye was the only one who could make her feel better, not even Peg could achieve this, but Hawkeye very rarely had gone back to the house and even when he did, he found he could not find the words to make the little girl feel better. He wanted to reassure her, but he didn't want to tell her that there was a chance that her father might die, but he didn't want to lie to her either. This indecision was another reason that he avoided the house, not to mention the fact that he hated being in his best friend's house and his best friend not being there with him.

"Hawkeye?" said a voice tentatively, that startled Hawkeye out of his thoughts, making him jump

"Peg" Hawkeye identified the speaker, simultaneously trying to slow his heart rate down.

"Sorry, Hawkeye, didn't mean to scare you" Peg apologized, sitting down

"It's okay" he waved his hand "What are you doing here?"

"Oh I don't know…I just needed to get out of the house for a little while. I mean, I appreciate how everyone's trying to make me feel better with all the cooking and baking, but it kinda feels like I'm not being allowed to worry about BJ. Like, for instance, I wanted to come down here to find out what progress is being made, but the general consensus was that it would bother me too much, so…" a slightly guilty look stole across Peg's face "…I snuck out of my own house. I mean, I really appreciate the fact that they care and that they're trying to distract me from driving myself totally crazy with worry; I do, but it's almost like they're trying to distract me so much that I'm not allowed to worry at all"

Hawkeye smiled, his first genuine smile all day and took Peg's hand in his "Why do you think I'm here?"

Peg burst out laughing at this. The two sat in companionable silence for a long while, each thinking of the significant other they were currently missing; taking solace in the fact that the other knew exactly what they were going through. Margaret couldn't die. Hawkeye tried to assure himself. No, it wasn't possible, they had barely been married for six hours, they still had a lifetime together…but he, of all people, knew best of all how life could suddenly, tragically, and without warning, be cut short. The thought of this happening to his Margaret made Hawkeye feel like his innards were being removed piece by piece with a wrench. And every time he tried to convince himself that any minute now, the excavation crew would come and tell him that they found her, there was that dammed little voice again; that dammed little voice that ineloquently reminded him that he knew first-hand how death can take anyone and everyone. He had been one of the few who had been at the 4077th from the beginning. Him and Margaret. Even the thought of her made Hawkeye feel like his insides were getting twisted up, pretzel-style. God, he missed her. He wanted her back so badly. So badly it hurt; a constant stomachache. He'd give anything and everything to have his arms around her just one more time, and for the first time ever, Hawkeye finally fully understood what his father had gone through when his mother had died. The constant pain and heartache. He knew what that was like now; he was feeling it and he had barely been married to her for six hours. But then again, he had loved her for longer than either of them had realized, so that probably had something to do with it. Whatever it was, Hawkeye found he really didn't care. All he cared about was finding Margaret and soon. It had taken him an idiotic amount of time to realize fully that Margaret was the person he had been waiting for his entire life. He honestly wasn't sure what he'd do with himself if she died. He really wasn't sure if he'd be able to live without her.

"Hawkeye?" Peg said suddenly, for the second time in the course of an hour, snapping Hawkeye out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah. Anything."

"I'm pregnant"

Hawkeye's face lit up "Peg! That's fantastic! That's the best bit of news I've heard all day! Congratulations! Bet Beej is thrilled!"

"That's the thing, Hawkeye" Peg said quietly "BJ doesn't know"

"Why?"

"I wanted to wait to tell him until things settled down a little. Until we could be alone together, so I could tell him in private; you know just the two of us, you understand, right, Hawkeye?"

"Yeah. Of course. Telling the husband that you're pregnant is a time for the two of you; not the two of you, your five-year old and his two friends sleeping in the next rooms plus other friends coming in from all over the country"

"Yeah, but now he might never know he's going to be a daddy again" Peg burst into tears

"Peg, don't talk like that" reprimanded Hawkeye "It's not like you to be so pessimistic"

"Can't help it" protested Peg, sounding more like her daughter than her normal self.

"Is that why you came down here? One of the reasons at least?"

"I needed to tell someone, I was driving myself crazy, remembering how I hadn't told him and he how was missing and how he didn't know and how every time this week he asked me if something was up and I said no! I lied to him, Hawkeye. He suspected something was up, and I denied it because I wanted to wait to tell him. Oh God, how I regret that now…If I had known…"

"You're going to drive yourself crazy with those "If I had known"'s"

"I noticed that, actually"

"It's not your fault, Peg" Hawkeye assured his best friend's wife "You had no way of knowing that anything like this was going to happen and you were in perfect right to want to wait until the two of you were alone. He's going to pull through and you're going to be able to tell him about the baby. Yes, I'll admit, there is a chance that something bad might happen, but if you give up all hope, then you'll just drive yourself crazy. Believe me I know"

Peg smiled through her tears and lay her hand on top of Hawkeye's "Don't worry, they'll find Margaret. And don't worry, BJ means too much to me for me to give up hope that he's still alive under there. I just, like you said, drove myself crazy with 'what if's, and I got scared trying to contemplate life without him. I can't lose him, Hawkeye and I won't. They can't have him, I'm not done with him, yet" Peg said firmly

Hawkeye laughed and lay his other hand on top of Peg's "That's the spirit."

"Margaret too. Even though I've only known her for two weeks, I feel like I've known her forever. I feel like I can tell her anything, she's really become my best friend. We still have so much more love to give them. So much more ahead of us that they can't be taken away from us." Peg looked into Hawkeye's eyes, a look of fierce determination and hope in her eyes. She smiled at him "Thanks Hawkeye. Talking to you really helped."

"Hey, you did most of the convincing, I just sat here and listened."

"Well, thanks for letting me cry on your shoulder and vent for a little while"

Hawkeye smiled back "No charge. Anytime"

"I feel almost ready to face the masses back at my house"

"How's Erin doing?"

Peg shook her head mournfully "She wants her daddy. She still doesn't understand why he's hasn't come back yet. She's too little to remember what it was like when he was in Korea, so she's got it in her head that because he's not back yet, she's never going to see him again." Peg shot Hawkeye a hard look that said _'You know you would know that if you came over every now and again'_

"You know I can't be there right now, Peg" Hawkeye said gently "I can't…I can't face her. I don't want to lie to her; tell her everything's gonna be all right and then have it not. I can't lie to her. She trusts me, I worked hard for that and I don't want to screw that up. And I can't be there while everything's up in the air here. Not now."

Peg put a hand on Hawkeye's shoulder "Don't worry, Hawkeye, I understand. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have looked at you like that. I mean I understand you don't want to lie to Erin and I understand that you can't stand being in the house without BJ there, because I feel the same way, but…"

"Motherly instincts. Trying to protect and keep your baby from harm. Understandable"

Peg smiled "You know, I can understand how BJ always says he can tell you anything, you're just so understanding"

Hawkeye laughed "Most of the time. You just caught me on one of my good days"

"No, I mean it. You're a good friend to him. You always have been. You're always there right when he needs you most"

"And he's always there for me too, so it comes out even."

Peg stood up "Okay, I'm really going this time. See you later, Hawkeye"

"Be careful…" He trailed off and looked horrified.

"What?" Peg asked, concerned

"It's finally happened… I've become my Great-Aunt Bertha…"

Peg burst out laughing "I knew what you meant. And you don't need to worry, Hawkeye." She placed a hand on her abdomen and smiled down at it fondly "I'll do anything to protect this."


	26. Chapter 26 The Morning After part 2

A/N: Another chapter for you courtesy of the fact I've got my dorm room to myself tonight and thanks to this genius inspiration spurt that had me going till 3AM on 7 hours sleep and despite the fact that in less than 12 hours, I'm going to have to deal with my two 2-year old cousins. It's because I love you all! (restrains urge to write more) Ooh but this is so much fun, pleeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase? Yeeheehee! Okay, definitely time to go to sleep now. Goodnight! Enjoy!

**Two weeks later:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I would have said this when I wrote this two weeks ago, but as you could plainly see, I was hyped up on excitement from finishing this chapter and lack of sleep. Sorry I didn't mention all my lovely reviews then, I just didn't have enough brain cells at that moment to think...I seriously love reviews...They make my day like you wouldn't believe. Please sir, can I have some more?

-AEM

Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells

Chapter 25 – The Morning After Part Two

"McIntyre, this is the most useless activity I've ever participated in" Charles complained.

"You're free to leave, Winchester" pointed out Trapper, not looking away from the direction in which he was facing.

Charles considered this for a brief second. "Well, maybe not that pointless"

The two Boston surgeons were currently crouched behind a corner of wall, watching the excavators sift through the rubble from the explosion. Trapper had gotten restless of sitting around and waiting practically almost soon as he had begun and had decided that he was going to figure out who had set the bomb. How wasn't clear, but Trapper didn't care.

Charles had joined him, more to keep him out of jail than anything, so he said, but secretly, he had been slightly anxious himself. A few years ago, back in Korea, he had prided himself on not caring about anyone, but even then, Margaret had been the first one he cared about. They had always gotten on extremely well together and sometimes, especially in the last few years, Charles had found himself wishing she were his sister, as opposed to Honoria. As for Hunnicut, Charles remembered telling him once, the time right before the war ended where BJ had thought himself to be discharged only for his orders to be resended a week later, that people who share a tent can get somewhat close as time goes on and though at the time, Charles had followed that sentence with one stating that this hadn't happened in their case, he had lied. Even then, he secretly had never minded Hunnicut, they had worked well together, be it in surgery, or in practical joking. Even though he had always teased him andtreated him likean irritating housefly that wouldn't go away,Hunnicut was a good guy, and the fact that this man who had come to be his ally at times and the fact that this woman who he had come to feel a great deal for might be dead had gnawed at Charles until he had offered to help Trapper in his search for clues of who the bomber was. Charles hated this man; this man who had ruined so many lives, ruined Pierce's and Margaret's memories of their wedding (if Margaret was even capable of having memories anymore, that is, this thought making Charles sick to his stomach) forever. Charles Emerson Winchester III (for now at least) would be dammed to the firey gates of hell before he would let this person who had endangered his friends' lives go free.

Despite all this, he still wasn't sure what watching the excavators would achieve.

"McIntyre," he addressed his fellow spy once again "What praytell does watching the excavators achieve? I highly doubt that watching them will tell us who blew up the ballroom, so what are we doing here?"

Trapper turned to Charles "Right now, I'm just trying to see if they're any closer to finding BJ or Margaret. Peg just left and I thought it'd be nice to be able to tell her that they're close to finding her husband, even if they've only found his hand" he explained "If it's boring you, go talk to Hawkeye."

Charles stood up and glared at the curly-haired surgeon "For the record, McIntyre, it is not boredom that's causing me to leave, it's…"

"…sitting here watching isn't helping take your mind off anything" finished up Trapper

"Exactly" Charles said quietly and walked away.

"Any news?" asked a voice, startling Charles from his thoughts

Charles looked up into the piercing blue eyes of Hawkeye. Mirrored in his eyes was this hope that Charles hadn't seen in his friend's eyes since before the explosion.

"Nothing" Charles said and watched as the light that had come on with hope that his wife and his best friend would very soon be all right die. "I'm sorry" For some reason, it seemed appropriate to say this, Charles would never know why.

Hawkeye smiled faintly and sat back down at the table and put his head in his hands.

"Do you want to…er…talk about it?" Charles pitied him, but it still felt odd to be expressing compassion to this man whom he had always masked any sort of feelings for.

Hawkeye grinned sarcastically at him "Feeling all right there, Charles?"

"Oh do be quiet, Pierce, I'm trying to help you" snapped Charles irritably

Hawkeye sobered "I know. I'm sorry, I appreciate it, but there's nothing to say really, other than I wanted to be married to Margaret for more than six hours and that I was looking forward to having kids with her and having them grow up to be friends with BJ's kids and my kids being the only kids in Crabapple Cove, Maine to have friends in Mill Valley, California. Kinda stupid, I guess, but then again, it's always been the little things that amuse me, as you said to me once"

"On the contrary, Pierce, it's not stupid that you wanted a life with the woman you love and that you want that life to last, in fact it's admirable. You're a lucky man to have that; a woman that you met during abysmal circumstances and fell in love with you anyway (though why is unimaginable), a friend like Hunnicut, who you can depend on to be there in anything, a father who worries for you and would do quite possibly anything for you…"

"Whoa, wait a minute, Charles, how'd my father get into this?" Hawkeye interrupted

"I was merely reassuring you that Margaret and Hunnicut would get out of this." Charles explained, angrily

"No, I don't think so…"

"Oh do you?" Charles glared at him

"Yeah I do cause this is the second time in two days you've gotten annoyed when the mention of your own parents came up." Hawkeye pointed out "I think something's going on between you and your parents…"

"I don't have to tell _you_ anything!" Charles outraged, pushing back his chair, angrily

"I never said anything happened, I said I _thought_ something happened, you just admitted to it, my friend" Hawkeye reasoned, rubbing his hands together gleefully.

Charles sneered at the dark-haired surgeon "I despise you, Pierce"

"No you don't"

"Oh, but I do…"

"How come you invited me to talk about what I was feeling about my wife and best friend quite possibly being dead, but when it comes down to you telling something, you get snooty?"

"Snooty, now there's a college word…"

"Don't change the subject! How come I'm forced to admit something personal to you, but when it comes down to you telling something to me…"

"Because…!" roared Charles, then stopped and looked off into the distance, avoiding Hawkeye's eyes

"Because…" prompted Hawkeye "Care to finish, Charles?"

Charles' eyes snapped back to glower at Hawkeye "No!" he sneered, but his look then softened "Yes…" he said quieter "Or I would, if I had a real reason"

"Besides the fact that it would go against this 'Don't let anybody into your personal life' policy that you've had since the moment I met you" added Hawkeye, a slight bitter edge to his voice "This façade of remaining aloof and like you think you're better than us and God's gift to surgery and the medical profession and that you're perfect and your whole life is perfect that you wear. Or rather, that you wanted us to think you were perfect and that your whole life is perfect, but I'm here to tell you, Charles, that nobody's perfect, not even you and I've known you for too long to believe you when you say everything's all right, when clearly it's not. So, come on, Charles, I might not be the happiest guy on the planet right now, but I'm a good listener and I'd like to think I'm your friend and it'll make you feel better to get it off of your chest."

Charles had been avoiding Hawkeye's eyes again, but at this last sentence, Hawkeye finally caught Charles' eyes and fixed him with a piercing stare, that, to Charles, seemed to be penetrating through more than his just eyes, but rather, his soul.

"All right, Pierce" Charles gave in, finally "You're right (and by the way, that _will_ be the only time you ever hear that phrase coming out of my mouth). You were right to think something is going on between me and my parents." Charles grinned a bit ruefully "I know all isn't perfect in my life, in fact, nothing is perfect with my life, really, my life is far far from perfect"

"But you always made it appear to us that it was" pointed out Hawkeye "Why, Charles?"

"You said it yourself, Pierce. It went against my façade of believing myself to be perfect, but for my entire life up to the first year I joined you in that abysmal hell of ours, that's what I thought myself to be. I was raised to be this proper, well-behaved…"

"…rich, arrogant, snob" supplied Hawkeye

Charles couldn't help but laugh "Yes, Pierce, exactly. I was brought up to think that if I was not perfect, I had no business being a Winchester, so I had to try my damndest to be as perfect as I could, to try to please my father, but no matter what I did it was never enough. I played the piano, Honoria did it better. I made superior grades in school, was school valedictorian, and became the fourth generation of Winchesters to get into Harvard, my father asks me four years later why I couldn't have won a full scholarship like Honoria just had. He never even congratulated me for getting into Harvard. He was away on business the week I found out, and when he came back, he didn't even hear me when I told him, for Honoria was telling him how she had made first chair in her viola orchestra. I graduated medical school, for God's sake, and both my parents went to Honoria's piano recital instead…."

"No offense, Charles, but it sounds like a bit of jealousy to me"

"No, it was more than that" Charles said, tight-lipped "Honoria and I got along famously as children, up till when I returned from Korea.It's just now that my eyes have been opened and I realize that I've missed something all along. I always had an excuse, for every event of mine they missed, for every time I presented something to my father that I expected to be praised for, but instead received only ridicule. I always told myself that I wasn't good enough, I wasn't perfect enough for my father and I needed to try harder, harder than I already was and it's taken me till now to realize that I never will be perfect enough for him. And it's taken me till about ten minutes from that realization to realize that I don't care. As a child, my father never once praised me, or told me he loved me or even acknowledged my existence unless it was to tell me I hadn't done well enough for him. I was 24 before he looked away from Honoria long enough to realize that I was an adult and began to talk to me as an equal and was able to hold a conversation that had nothing to do with my, to him, imperfection, though, still that was an all too frequent conversation. I was taught from a young age to accept nothing less than perfection. To be a Winchester was to be perfect, and though, my father always said nothing else about me was perfect, the fact I had been born into the family made me that much closer to perfection, and because I was looking for a nod of acceptance from my father, I hung onto that little bit of encouragement, the only I had ever received from him, tooth and nail. I was taught that money was the only thing that mattered in the world and I took all these misinformations with me to Korea, along with a rather large chip on my shoulder. For my entire life, I had trusted my family, gone to them for encouragement and fears and…love and every single time, I had been turned away. That begins to hurt after a while, so after a while, I just stopped trusting anyone just to stop the pain and used the arrogance I had been taught to my advantage…" Charles trailed off and stared into the distance, while Hawkeye stared at him, speechless

"…Wow, Charles, I had no idea…" he said finally

"That was the idea. I didn't trust anybody to care, most certainly not this group of people I barely knew when a group of people I had known for my entire life refused to care. I refused to let anyone in, for fear of getting hurt again."

"We just thought it was because you thought yourself to be better than us, that you thought us not worthy to breathe the same air that you did, never mind live in the same area"

"That's what you were supposed to think" smiled Charles, ruefully "And that's what I believed at first. You all were poor and I was taught that money led to perfection, which was what I was trying to achieve, therefore, because I was closer to perfection, I was better then all of you. But, somehow, you did break into the little protective bubble I built, you took me down a few notches and none of you will ever havea full idea of exactly how much I appreciate the fact that you did. I have no idea how you did it, but I'm glad you did."

"Charles, as interesting as that story was, what does that have to do with this problem you're having with your parents?" Hawkeye asked

"Just getting to that, Pierce, my god, you're like a small child with attention problems, sometimes" Charles grinned to let his former roommate that he was joking "Even though I was quite a number of years out of school and though I thought myself to know all that I needed to know, I received an education, in the year and a half I was in Korea; one that I desperately needed. The war taught me there was more important things in life than the next, best social event of the season, more to life than money and that all the medical know-how, I had learned in order to gain my much-coveted perfection, all the medical knowledge in the world was not enough to save everyone. That I couldn't save everybody. I thought myself 'God's gift to surgery and the medical career', as you said, and it took me a long while to realize that I was not as skilled as I thought myself to be. You all had a part in teaching me that, as well. You also taught me that it was quite possible to be accepted for the man I was, imperfections and all and that there were people out there that could look past all that, see me for who I am, who would be thereand who would not let me down the way my parents had. I took this knowledge with me back to Boston after the war ended, this new outlook on life that I hadn't wanted, but somehow ended up with anyway. I had been happy with the way my life had been, well maybe not happy, but it was all I knew. Then, I went back to Boston and my first reaction was how shallow it all was. How shallow they all were, my family, that is. I stopped looking for my father's approval (the kicker was that he didn't even seem to notice) and I started looking for things and doing things that would please me, not my parents. My parents and Honoria went around their business, I went around mine, I barely talked to them because I rarely had anything to say to them and they didn't talk to me either since we have absolutely nothing in common anymore. They never asked me anything about the war, or anything like that. Korea, the 4077th, anything like that was never brought up in the house, not because someone made a rule about it, but simply because I didn't want to talk about it, and they never had any interest in me to ask me, until the day I received the invitation to your and Margaret's wedding, when I accidentally let my amusement and amazement out in front of them. In an act of interest I never would have thought possible from them, they asked me what was in my letter, and in an act of vagueness I never would have thought possible from myself, I told them. They told me that they would actually be interested in coming because this meant something to me. _To me_. Words I never would have thought I would ever hear from them, words I hadn't cared whether I heard from them for a few years now, but there they were…until Honoria got a letter from the Governor's Palace in England, inviting us to the Governor's Ball for this selfsame weekend, and wouldn't you know it, my parents actually had the gall to ask me if I would give up coming here because the entire family was invited and wouldn't settle for less and Honoria's been waiting for an invitation to the Governor's Ball since she was a child. My father and I began arguing, and I let out all the feelings I had been holding in all these years…some feelings I didn't even realize were there. Pieces I didn't put fully together till that moment about how I felt I could never live up to Honoria, despite the fact that she is four years younger than me, how I felt that they had never been there for me because they were always there for her and only her. My mother called me immature and spoiled, my sister just sat there and smirked at me because she knew that if I stayed, she would get her way, as always, and I wanted her not to get her way for the first time ever in our lives, so I told them all I was leaving, but not before my father threatened me with disinheriting and disowning if I left. I left anyway"

Hawkeye again was speechless. "Charles…"

"I've been thinking of the name 'Smith', what do you think, Pierce?" Charles interrupted, with a grim smirk on his face"Too ordinary? Because I think so and I think that's exactly what I'm looking for..."

"Whoa, Charles, slow down a minute. You've been disowned and disinherited?"

"Yes, I have. Paperwork will probably be going through any day now. In fact, it's probably sitting on my desk at my office as that's the only other address the family lawyers know me to be reached at, other than the mansion, where I'd rather perform an autopsy on myself before showing my face there ever again" snorted Charles

"You've been disowned and disinherited because you wanted to come to my wedding?"

"Yes, Pierce, which part of that didn't you understand? I mean, I know you can be slow at times…"

"Charles, shut up!" Hawkeye still looked very overwhelmed and shocked at this information "You were threatened with disowning and disinheriting if you came to my wedding and you came anyway" This was more a statement than a question.

"Yes" responded Charles, then looked straight into Hawkeye's eyes "The way I saw it, Pierce, was I would rather be associated with the people that saw beyond my insecure arrogance, my bragging and my attempts at perfection rather than the people who encouraged it in the first place"

The two colleagues…the two men…the two friends looked long at each other, these looks saying much more than any words that either of them could find that they would be comfortable with could say.

"Winchester!" called a voice, snapping the two men from their thoughts, but not before each man emerged with more respect then either ever thought they would ever feel for the other, or that they ever would have thought possible for the other to feel for them.

Trapper ran up to Charles, breathless "Winchester! You'll never believe…Oh hi, Hawkeye" Trapper addressed his friend, whom he hadn't seen when he first ran up to Charles

"Hi Trapper" Hawkeye said, amused at how Trapper had greeted him like he was fully surprised to see him there "What will Charles never believe?"

"Oh, that…um…" Trapper looked visibly uncomfortable, something that Hawkeye never would have expected one of his oldest friend to feel about him "You know, never mind, it's not important. Hey, Hawk, let's play gin…of course we won't have our special gin, but we'll have to make do"

"I think it is important or else you wouldn't have run (an activity you never participate in, may I remind you?) to find Charles. What is it, Trap, we never used to have secrets…"

Trapper looked at Hawkeye sadly "Hawk, I really wanna tell you, you gotta believe me, but this shouldn't be the way you hear about it..."

"This isn't about Margaret or BJ, is it?" Hawkeye asked, straining to keep his voice neutral, despite his rapidly growing panic

"Oh, no nothing like that" Trapper quickly assured "I mean, it sort-of has to do with them, but…no, no, it's not that" Trapper glanced at Charles and shot him a look which his fellow Boston surgeon easily understood. Charles nodded his head tersely once, and Trapper looked back at Hawkeye, who had been following the looks between Trapper and Charles and whose face was displaying a look somewhere in between all out panic and flat out annoyance at the fact that they were hiding secrets from him "It's…it's…god, Hawk…" Trapper ran a hand through his curly blonde hair, and glanced again at Charles before looking back at Hawkeye and continuing. "I think…no, scratch that…I know who the bomber is…"

A/N: Ooh one more thing! And review! Please? I love reviews! I've gotten such good reviews so far and I love knowing what you think! I love hearing from you! It seriously makes my day! I'll make it worth your while…Remember…sequel _and_ prequel (tempts) Does that work? Seriously, though, anyone interested in reading a sequel and/or a prequel? Let me know in your review! Thanks!

-AEM


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Oooh…I love cliffhangers, don't you? (starts laughing manically) Well, anyway, here's the next chapter, where all…(oh okay, I lied, most) of your questions will be answered...

Thanks for all the reviews! You guys are so awesome and helpful with your suggestions! I haven't got anything but positive remarks about the sequel, so that's in the works, though I'm not sure when cause I still have to finish this, cause I can't put up the sequel until I finish this of course, it'll spoil the ending! And I'm working on a few other stories too (no other MASH at the moment, sorry) , and I'm still working on the plot idea, it's no more than a wee plot bunny at the moment, but I shall work on it, figure out all the details, and I hope to have it up by…you know, I'm not going to put up a date, cause we all know how I am with posting and that kind of stuff, so we'll just go with soon.

And it was pointed out to me by laurydorythat my paragraphs are too long. I've gotta admit, I skim long paragraphs too, I just never think of that when I'm writing em. Sorry bout that, that's a downfall of mine. My mom tells me that too, but, hey, at least I'm not writing everything as one long paragraph anymore! I used to do that writing papers in school, drove my teachers nuts...I just never noticed it. I just love writing long rants! Anyway, thanks to laurydory for bringing that to my attention!

I love how none of my editing things aren't coming out lately... Especially paragraph indents. I just had to go through the editing section of uploading and do it there, so if it doesn't work, I'm sorry. Also if anyone knows of a good way to divide sections, or any of it, come to that, I'd really like to know, cause nothing seems to work for me, so if you'd let me know. I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Anyway, enough of my inane babbling! Enjoy! And review! I live and breathe reviews. Okay, that was odd, I'm sorry...

Disclaimer: Must I? If I owned any part of MASH, I'd be rich and old. I'm neither.

-AEM

Hawkeye stood expressionless. Trapper and Charles exchanged another uneasy look.

"Hawk…" Trapper said tentatively after about ten minutes "You okay?"

Hawkeye blinked "Yeah. Great." He said tonelessly "Who is it?"

"Um….Maybe you should see it" Trapper glanced over at Charles again

The three men walked in silence over towards the remnants of the dance floor. They stopped at the side of a wall. The wall led into an alcove where the beverages had been.

Trapper turned to Hawkeye and put a hand on his shoulder "Hawk, you might wanna just wait here…They might not talk if you're there…"

"Okay" Hawkeye agreed so readily, that Trapper was stunned…not to mention worried. Hawkeye hadn't so much as spoken in the last few minutes since Trapper had told him about knowing the identity of the bomber, and then agreeing not to confront someone who had quite possibly killed either his wife or his best friend quite complacently, was unlike Hawkeye. Trapper had expected him to fly out in a rage at any minute, but no…he'd been cool and calm throughout this entire thing, if it had been Louise, he would have been digging though the rubble with his bare hands…But then again, Trapper supposed that this was a good thing. He'd rather deal with cool, calm Hawkeye, rather than in a rage Hawkeye.

Trapper and Charles left Hawkeye and continued into the alcove. "McIntyre…" Charles whispered "How did you…"

Trapper shushed him and wordlessly pointed to the person that was coming out of the shadows…

They looked from Trapper to Charles, with a horrified look

"Stop that" Trapper said casually "I told you I was going to bring someone back. You know Dr. Winchester. Tell him what you told me, okay?"

The newcomer nodded and took a deep breath "I've gotta get this off my chest, I can't live a second more if I don't…I didn't do it…"

Charles rolled his eyes and glared at Trapper, who had his arms crossed over his chest, a finger over his lips. He glanced at Charles as he began to glare and motioned with that finger towards the speaker, who was continuing

"…But I just as well did it. It was my idea. Not the bombing per se, but…You have to understand though, I didn't want to hurt anybody, neither of us did. Dr. Hunnicut was always nice to me, and his daughter is the one of the sweetest girls I have ever met, and possibly killing the bride was the furthest thing from either of our minds…I would rather die than hurt any of them…We didn't set out to hurt anyone, honest, I swear!"

The speaker had started talking faster with every word, desperate to explain, but soon smiled almost ruefully and flushed "Sorry. I just really needed to get that out, I really wanted to make sure you know that hurting anyone was not out intention. Our intention was…You have to admit it, you were mean…you always have been and…that's not right…He's gotten to accept your teasings and all that and that's not right. Who gave you the right to treat someone like that? To take advantage of the feelings that he had for her and use them for your own sick, twisted game to make him look like a fool. But he's gotten to accept the way you treat him and, again, that's not right. So I told him he should stand up for himself, stop acting as the rug for you all walk all over and do something about it. Stand up to you and show you that he's not going to let you guys treat him the horrible way you do.

It was my idea to do something about it, but the bomb was him. You're probably wondering why I've told you all this. There's no proof that either of us did it, so we could get away with it very easily, he made sure of that and he's been here ever since to make sure that all of the tracks we worked so hard to cover stay that way and he told me to stay at Dr and Mrs. Hunnicut's house to make sure that there was no way that I could get blamed for it. But it's not trouble I'm worried about anymore…

Two people who did absolutely nothing wrong except be in the wrong place at the wrong time might be dead now all because of me, and just the thought that makes me sick, because they were so nice to me. They weren't supposed to be there. The plan was just to make the wall explode and nothing more. No one was supposed to be there! No one had been dancing over there…It was the perfect spot. Dr. Pierce looked like he was headed in that direction, but fortunately, Erin started crying at that precise moment because her mother ran by without saying hi, so I was able to intercept him and lie and say that Erin wanted him, but I had no idea that anyone was over there cause they weren't supposed to be. I know that this might sound totally weird, but it's the truth…every last bit of it...

My father's a good man. He gets no respect from anyone; from my mom, my sisters…he always wanted to be friends with you, but you were too busy mocking him for what he believed in that you never even gave him a chance. Sure, he's not 'one of the guys', he might not believe in the same things you do, but he's still a person and every person deserves respect. You brought this all on yourself…well maybe not this precise situation, but one day, my father had to grow a backbone, and I couldn't bear to see him so crestfallen every time someone walks all over him, I just helped him pick today for that day…."

"STEPHANIE!" yelled an outraged voice. Three heads turned to the sound of the voice and regarded Frank Burns storming over towards them from the opposite direction from which Trapper and Charles had come from. He stopped in front of his daughter "What are you doing! You're not supposed to commit a crime and then confess to it, that's not how this works! We're going to get in trouble now! This wasn't part of the plan!" Frank stomped his foot like an angry little child.

"But that's exactly what you deserve…" Hawkeye came out of the shadows to face the two people who had hurt his wife and his best friend. He was visibly shaking, and Trapper couldn't help thinking _'Explosion in 5…4…3…'_ , but when Hawkeye spoke again, his voice was calm "You might have killed two innocent people and your only excuse is that we weren't treating you nicely, Frank? Because that's a damned stupidly childish reason, I think. What is this, second grade? Okay, I'll be the first to admit that we never treated you too well. Or well period, come to that, but that still doesn't give you the excuse to do something as drastic as you did. You set a bomb, Frank…You know the damage a bomb can do, you were in the war same as us…"

Frank's eyes darted around nervously "No one was supposed to know…" he mumbled to no one in particular.

"That still doesn't change the fact that you did it" Hawkeye managed to catch the nervous man's eyes. Hawkeye kept up his piercing gaze until Frank had to break away out of shame.

"Daddy, I had to" Stephanie whispered, looking up at her father. The tears that had been threatening to fall all throughout her monologue began to escape "I couldn't live with myself knowing that I had possibly killed two innocent people…"

"Neither could I, but…" Frank looked at his daughter, sadly "…but you didn't do it, I did. So you have no reason to feel guilty…"

"But I am the one who came up with the idea to show them that you're not a coward in the first place…" Stephanie said quietly

"But we were just getting them back! It wasn't meant to get this far! We didn't mean anything by it! I didn't want to hurt anybody either!" Frank yelled, desperately, now addressing Hawkeye, Trapper, and Charles "I didn't want to hurt them! They weren't supposed to even be there! I wouldn't hurt either of them! Especially not Margaret!"

Hawkeye was silent for a full minute. His face turned deadpan, changed soon to a glare and Trapper expected this to be his moment of outrage. But again, when Hawkeye spoke, he only spoke forcefully. He still didn't shout "You…" he breathed angrily through his nose and jabbed a finger into Frank's chest "have no goddamned right to speak of Margaret. You claim to care for her, but then you set a bomb to where she's getting married.

You speak of this as…as some sort of game…some sort of playground game where one kid makes fun of another kid, so the first kid has to find some way to get the other kid back, but…this isn't a game, Frank. This is real life. These are human lives you've threatened and, yes, I know you 'didn't want to hurt anybody', but you've threatened human lives, and though you didn't want to hurt anybody, you did, Frank. You and your daughter. And as…as much as I want to …god, I don't even know what I want to do to you for hurting my wife, but I'm not gonna do it. God knows you deserve it, but this isn't entirely your fault…"

Trapper, Charles, Frank and Stephanie all gasped at this pronouncement, but Hawkeye continued like there had been no disruption

"Margaret didn't want to invite you. I really didn't either, but…Stephanie is right about one thing, I wanted to mock you one more time…I wanted you to think that Margaret was extending an olive branch and wanted to see you again by inviting you to her wedding. I don't know if you noticed, but the groom's name…my name on the invitation was smudged because I didn't want you knowing that I was the groom. I wanted to mock you by getting you all the way down here, then rubbing it in your face that I, your old adversary from the war, was marrying the woman that you once had feelings for. I'm going to admit that you weren't the only one acting childish, I was too, and maybe Stephanie's also right that we had no right to treat you the way we always have, but if I hadn't let my childishness cloud my judgment, none of this would have happened and I would be happy with my wife right now"

Hawkeye screwed his eyes up tight to keep from crying. He succeeded and a moment later, his piercing blue eyes regarded Frank again "I'm not allowing myself to hurt you for hurting Margaret and BJ, because I can't. I don't have the right too, because, Stephanie was talking third parties to this whole thing, and I'm as much a culprit too as either of you, because…if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be here and none of this would have ever happened. I blame myself as much as I blame either of you, so I'm not allowing myself the satisfaction of hurting you, but I am allowing myself one luxury. I'm allowing myself to turn you in.

As much as I want my wife and my best friend back, I'm not going to allow the man who threatened their lives and so many more lives to go free" Hawkeye's eyes became alight with this odd light. It wasn't his usual snapping, electric blue light that came out when it came to his wisecracks. It was more a dull blue light, but it was strong and betrayed his determination to do something, anything, to avenge his wife and his best friend, and more importantly, his determination in that BJ and Margaret would be all right.

"You're going to jail, Frank" a grim little grin crossed Hawkeye's face "Do not pass go, do not collect two-hundred dollars and all that jazz. You're not going to get away with this one, Frank. You're not going to slither your way out of it like you've done all the other times you've done something wrong, like the time after Margaret married Penobscott and you spent the weekend chasing after them, got arrested, then somehow, got promoted and shipped out instead. You're not getting away with this." Hawkeye met Frank's eyes again and looked deep into them, and, with that, looked more determined than ever "I'm going to make sure of that"


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Wow I hate writers block…then plus exams and other assorted insanity hasn't left a lot of time for writing (and wouldn't you know inspiration came back the minute I had to start studying for finals, and left the moment I came home for winter break . This is my life) So anyway, sorry for the delay (as always). And also as always, thanks for reading and I hope you like it!

Okay and a couple of people had questions about what happened during last chapter and the revealing of the identity of the bomber. I know I wrote it kinda oddly, but I wanted to keep the identity a secret for as long as humanly possibly cause I'm mean like that heeheee. So here's what happened: Stephanie started to feel so guilty because of what her and her father did and she needed to tell someone, so she told Trapper. Trapper told Charles and Hawkeye he had found out who set the bomb and brought Charles to listen to Stephanie confess while Hawkeye was listening in the shadows because Trapper was afraid that Stephanie wouldn't talk if Hawkeye was there. Hope that clears it up. Sorry if I confused anyone.

Yay for reviews! Thanks everyone! You guys are all so kind with your reviews and your kind reviews…keep em up!

Anyway…I'm thinking maybe 2 or 3 more chapters, which with any hope I'll get up relatively soon…hopefully in the next two weeks before winter break ends and I have to go back to school. As for sequel/prequel….I know I want to do them, but I've also got a whole bunch of other stories floating around up there and next to no time to write anything, so hopefully it'll get up relatively soon

Oooh and for the first time ever I've added a song to my fic here…I've had 'End of the World as We Know It' by REM stuck in my head for a few days now and I suddenly realized when I needed to come up with a chapter title that it fit to what was going on in the chapter so first I made it into a chapter title, then I decided why not add it into the chapter? Little something new I'm trying, so gimme feedback on it and pretty basically any other aspect of the story! Enjoy!

Aaaaand on with the story

Chapter 27 – The End of the World As We Know It

"You have the right to remain sil…"

"Stop!" Frank yelled, interrupting the police officer, who was arresting him and attempting to handcuff him at the same time "Please! Just wait a minute before I have to be quiet! I have to say something!"

The police had been called right after Frank and Stephanie had confessed to setting off the bomb as had the gang at the Hunnicut house. The police had arrived five minutes before Peg, Klinger, Radar, Colonel Potter and Father Mulcahy had (the rest were at home watching the children) and they all, including Hawkeye, Charles and Trapper were watching quietly as Frank got arrested, becoming shocked at his interruption.

The policeman rolled his eyes at Frank's outburst and came after him with the handcuffs again

"No! Just one minute please!" pleaded Frank, desperately, twisting out of the police officer's reach " I made the bomb! I set the bomb! I'm the one who read about how to make a bomb, in a pamphlet for soldiers back in the war! I'm the one who came up with the god-forsaken idea to get them back using bomb in the first place! She…" he gestured to Stephanie, who was standing silently nearby in the firm grasp of another policeman, handcuffed and not putting up a struggle, like her father. She seemed almost detached, and started when her father started to speak of her to the police "She had nothing to do with this! It was all my idea!"

_ That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, and aeroplanes and Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn-world serves its own needs, dummy serve your own needs. Feed it off an aux speak, grunt, no, strength, ladder start to clatter with fear fight down height. Wire in a fire representing seven games, a government for hire and a combat site. left of west and coming in. A hurry with the furies breathing down your neck. Team. By team reporters baffled, trumped, tethered cropped  
Look at that low playing! Fine then…_

"But Daddy," Stephanie said quietly, tears leaking down her face once more "I told you to get them back…"

"But you had nothing to do with the bomb. She didn't, I swear." Frank turned back to the cop, who was trying to arrest him, and began babbling insanely, talking faster and faster with every word "I wouldn't let her anywhere near it, right, Steph? Listen…I don't want to be arrested…actually, I'd rather be arrested than let loose among Pierce and his crowd over there, come to that, but that's not the point. The point is…my daughter did nothing wrong. You don't have to arrest her, do you? All she did was tell me I _should_ find a way to get them all back. All the rest was me, not her. She had absolutely nothing to do with it. She's a minor, can't you just…I dunno…give her a reprimand and send her back to her mother? Pleaaaase? I'll even take whatever punishment you were going to give her, if you need me too" Frank looked the police officer in the eyes "Do whatever you want to me, just please, spare my daughter"

_Uh oh. Overflow, population, common food, but it'll do. Save  
Yourself, serve yourself. World serves its own needs,  
Listen to your heart bleed dummy with the rapture and  
The revered and the right, right. you vitriolic,  
Patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty  
Psyched  
_

The police officer looked dubious. The members of the 4077th, however, were shocked. Frank Burns sacrificing himself for someone else?

Stephanie looked up at her father, her eyes shining with pride. He was proving that he had a backbone better than any bomb ever would. Now everyone would know what she had known all along…

_It's the end of the world as we know it…_

_It's the end of the world as we know it…_

_It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine_

Finally, the police officer, who had been attempting to handcuff Frank, sighed "All right, we'll let your daughter go. She wasn't really up for anything, anyway, and she is a minor. All right, Mike, let 'er go"

Frank grinned as the other police officer unhandcuffed the young girl. She immediately went to go run to her father, but the police officer stopped her

"You gotta go, miss. You're going with Mike to the airport. We're getting you back to Indiana as soon as possible

"What about my father?"

"He's going to jail, missy, that was the agreement, he goes, you go back home to your mother"

Stephanie scowled and the 4077th gang were startled at her sudden resemblance to her father. She didn't look too much like him, otherwise, but when she was angered, she lost her upper lip just like he did.

Her look softened after a minute and her upper lip reappeared. "Can I at least say goodbye?" she asked quietly. Both police officers scuffed their feet and looked awkward at the idea of not giving in to the crying girl, so they agreed immediately.

_Six o'clock - tv hour. don't get caught in foreign  
Towers. slash and burn, return, listen to yourself  
Churn. locking in, uniforming, book burning, blood_

_Letting. every motive escalate. automotive incinerate  
Light a candle, light a votive. step down, step down  
Watch your heel crush, crushed, uh-oh, this means no  
Fear cavalier. renegade steer clear! a tournament,  
Tournament, a tournament of lies. offer me solutions,  
Offer me alternatives and i decline_

Stephanie flung herself into her father's arms "Daddy! I don't wanna go back to Indiana and living with Mom! Not without you!"

"I know you don't want to go back and live with your mother, Stephanie, but you have to. It's the only way I could get you off and I'd much rather see you living with your mother than in a jail cell…Especially when this was all my fault because I don't know if you ever noticed, I don't take the blame for a lot…for most things…" he laughed awkwardly, but cut it off immediately when he noticed that Stephanie wasn't laughing.

He then got a strange look on his face and smiled slightly. He looked his daughter straight in the eyes, and placed his hands on her shoulders "…but I'd rather go to jail if it means that you're safe cause you're my favorite daughter and I love you so much…"

Frank looked shocked at what he had just heard come out of his mouth, but then he realized something. Throughout his life, he had said a lot of things, to his mother, to Louise, even to Margaret; false statements of adoration, of promise, of love, but he had never really and truly meant any of them. He had never really had any feelings for anyone (well, with the possible exception of his mother) and anything he did had to have some way of benefiting him, but it was at this moment that Frank Burns realized that, for the first time, possibly ever, he did love someone other than himself.

He loved his daughter. He wasn't even sure why, maybe it was because she loved him for him, not some ideal of him like Margaret did, or just because marriage was the next step in life and he happened to be there, like Louise did.

Love was nice, Frank realized to himself, as he also rather wished he had had more of it in his life. It was nice to have someone to care about, who also cared about you, even if you weren't the greatest person on the planet and would throw you to the roadside once they found something better. Ever since Frank had come back from Korea, Stephanie had been there, with her unique ability to be able to look past all his faults and see that there was so much more to him. He had used her naieveness to his advantage at first, but soon, he had realized that he cared for her just as much, as she had for him but it wasn't till now that he fully understood love. He used to think any kind feelings toward someone was love, but now he fully understood that loving someone was more than that.

It was wanting to do whatever it takes to protect someone, even if it meant putting yourself in harm's way. Wanting to be there to comfort them in times of pain and laugh with them in times of triumph. He just wished he had realized this before now. Love was very nice, Frank decided, most definitely and he loved his daughter with all his heart.

Tears once again streamed down Stephanie Burns' face as her father wrapped his arms around her. Though he had said 'I love you' many times, this was the first time he had said it on his own, not as response to hers. And though he had often called her his favorite daughter, this was the first time he had actually sounded genuine about it, not as if he was trying to rub it in his wife's face that she hadn't been able to turn all their daughters against him or into his uncaring two other daughters' faces that he didn't like them as much as he liked her. For the first time, Stephanie really felt that her father really did love her.

_It's the end of the world as we know it (it's time i had some time alone)  
It's the end of the world as we know it (it's time i had some time alone)  
It's the end of the world as we know it and i feel fine (it's time i had some time alone)  
_

"So what do you think is going to happen?" Trapper was the first one to break the silence.

They had all watched in silence as their former colleague had been taken away in handcuffs a few minutes before, after watching his daughter be taken from him, possibly forever not five minutes before. He hadn't said a word. He watched her go silently, then following a few minutes later, still not saying a word. After all they had seen, this side of Frank that no one had even known existed, they were in shock.

"To who?" Klinger asked, in some confusion. "Frank and Steph?"

"Yeah" Trapper responded, looking towards the door

_The other night i dreamt of knives, continental  
Drift divide. mountains sit in a line, leonard  
Bernstein. leonid brezhnev, lenny bruce and lester  
Bangs. birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom! you  
Symbiotic, patriotic, slam book neck, right? right_

"Frank's going to jail" Hawkeye responded, tightly "And Stephanie's going back to her mother. Whether she thought of the idea for Frank to do something to get us back or not is irrelevant. She didn't do anything. She didn't set the bomb or, think of the idea for a bomb, or in fact, was anywhere near the bomb, a piece of insight and thoughtfulness I never would have thought capable to come from Frank. But Stephanie's guilty of nothing more than loving her father" Hawkeye paused then continued talking, speaking the words that were on all of their minds, but they didn't know how to say them…

"It's funny though, just when we thought we had Frank Burns all pinned down…I thought I had him there within five minutes of meeting him, but, just when we thought we knew him, he goes and does something noble like this. We just thought of him as a whiny, uncaring snot who didn't care about anybody but himself. I guess it just goes to show you that even when you think you know someone so well, they can still do something that will surprise you. That how they may act around you isn't necessarily all they feel. And it makes me wonder if this was in him all along, and if we had treated him with a bit more respect back in Korea, maybe he wouldn't be quite as crazy as he is now. We all immediately blamed it on him because he wouldn't stand up for himself. We all said that it was him, that he was an idiot and not capable of being anything more than an idiot, but maybe it wasn't all him. Maybe it was us too…"

_It's the end of the world as we know it  
It's the end of the world as we know it  
It's the end of the world as we know it and i feel fine (it's time i had some time alone)_

Hawkeye lapsed into silence as the crew of the MASH 4077th exchanged brief looks of embarrassment and opinions of truth in Hawkeye's statement. They all stood in companionable, but thoughtful silence, pondering Hawkeye's words. This silence, like -the one before, was soon broken, this time by a high-pitched, familiarly accented squeal of "CHAAAAALES!"

Everyone turned to discover that the source of the noise was a petite, blonde female, who was currently attacking Charles with great gusto. She leapt into the air and flung her arms around Charles' neck "Oh Charles!" she sobbed into his shoulder.

The group had only a moment to register Charles' look of utmost astonishment before they noticed an older couple walking quickly towards them, further increasing Charles' astonished look.

"Charles! You're all right!" yelled the older woman, noticeably relieved. She and the man standing next to her, though they were an older couple, looked as if they had artificially aged a couple decades and were quite pale.

Charles, for the first time in his life, had been finding himself at a loss for words. "Mother! Father! Honoria!" he managed to get out, trying not to notice Hawkeye's jaw drop low enough to scrape the ground "What on Earth are you all doing here?"

"We were at Heathrow Airport" spoke up Honoria, still clinging to Charles like she had decided never to let go of him ever again "We had just gotten to London and we were waiting for our baggage when the television began reporting about a bomb set off at a hotel in California and I recognized it as the name of the city that you were going to."

"And all we could think of was that you were dead and the last thing we ever said to you was that you were no longer a part of our family and we couldn't bear that thought" sobbed Mrs. Winchester

"We're so sorry, son…_I'm_ so sorry." added Mr. Winchester, approaching his son "I'm sorry for how I've treated you. Banishing you for standing up for what you believed in is not the way for a father to treat his son. I didn't even notice what I was doing and it is only now that this tragedy has put it into perspective. I am so sorry for making you think that we love Honoria more than you. I'm so sorry. We never treated you fairly, I see that now, and I never should have kicked you out. That was uncalled for, but I want you to know you can I've been an abysmal father, and I apologize for that, Charles. I just only hope you can find it inside you to forgive an old fool for not seeing his son the way he should have"

_It's the end of the world as we know it…_

Charles stared at his father in utter disbelief. He disentangled himself from his sister and faced his father face to face, for the first time ever "I accept your apology, Father. But I can't come home. Not now, not ever. I will be returning to Boston and I will come back to the manor one last time to retrieve the rest of my belongings, but I cannot stay there anymore. I'll still visit, but I cannot live there any longer. It's high time I found my own place on my own terms.

"I don't belong there with you anymore, not because I still hold the events of my childhood against you, but because I'm not the same man that I was when I left you four years ago. I've changed a great deal since then and you're still the same and who I am now does not mesh with who I was then, and who you are now. For once, I am going to be the bigger man and forgive you, but there's no way I can return to the Winchester estate, especially when my friends are in dire straights like this. I honestly couldn't care less if you don't like this or are angered by any of this because" he looked around at the group of war veterans around him and the woman that he cared for

Lorraine knew a different Charles than his family knew, but he was fully prepared to become the Charles she knew rather than the Charles his family knew. He liked Lorraine's Charles better "I have a new group of people ready to accept me for how I prefer to be and if you cannot accept any of this, then you haven't learned anything at all"

Charles stepped back, a look of confidence and pride on his face, so unlike the way he used to look when he felt these emotions and able to admit that his former colleagues at the 4077th MASH were his friends for the first time ever.

_It's the end of the world as we know it…_

"I understand Charles and we're fully prepared to accept you for how you are…how you want to be. The fact that you want to stay here for your friends is commendable and the fact that you have the gained the confidence to stand up for what you believe in is admirable" Mr. Winchester said formerly. He gravely shook his son's hand and left the room.

_It's the end of the world as we know it…_

Charles, stunned, accepted the handshake from his father, without really registering it. His mother kissed him on the cheek and Honoria did the same, trying to remain dignified, but failing as she impulsively threw her arms around her brother. They both left the room behind Mr. Winchester.

The gang looked at Charles with a newfound respect. Hawkeye merely walked over and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Dr. Pierce, Mrs. Hunnicut!" a young man of around 23 ran up to them, breathing hard as both of the people named turned "We…we think we found something!"

_And I feel fine…_


	29. Chapter 29 Lost or Found?

A/N: Heyyyy there awesome, loyal readers! I'm proud to present Chapter 28 of Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells, up thanks to some late night inspiration that kept me up till about quarter to 4 in the morning this morning. I would have posted it then, but I couldn't think of a chapter title till now. Anyway, I really hope you all like it! Two more chapters left! I hope to have em up soon, if I don't get too distracted by the distraction that is myspace. And I'm still thinking about writing a sequel, cause this plot bunny's starting to bother me.

And thanks to all my awesome reviewers! You are what keeps me writing and the knowing that someone appreciates my work. So enjoy everyone and review!

-AEM

Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells

Chapter 28

Lost or Found?

Hawkeye's jaw dropped at this pronouncement. He suddenly felt someone crush the bones in his hand. He looked over and found that Peg had grabbed his hand and was squishing it in surprise and newfound hope. They exchanged excited glances and ran hand-in-hand toward the pile of rubble…

Hawkeye and Peg got there, the rest of the 4077th gang on their heels. Unlike the quiet digging of before, the workers were excitedly digging around one specific area, not too far away. Other than that, there was no sign of life beneath the rubble.

Casting a sympathetic glance toward Peg, and unwilling to let his own disappointment show, Hawkeye addressed the man who had come to get them "So you think you found something?" he prompted the young, yet slightly naieve man who looked proud that he had found something, though no one knew what it was.

"Oh right, sorry" the young man's cheeks flushed, slightly reminding Hawkeye of whenever Radar got flustered back in Korea, but Hawkeye found that, despite the resemblence to his younger brother figure, he found he didn't care much about embarrassing the younger man when all he cared about was getting his wife and best friend back "It's not much…" the young man continued "We found a hand…we had a doctor check it…pulse slightly thready, but there" He finished proudly "It's right over here" he walked a foot around the rubble and gestured to a hand lying limply on the floor of the ballroom

"That's BJ!" screamed Peg suddenly, surprising everyone, including Hawkeye

"Umm…Peg, how can you be sure?" Hawkeye asked timidly

"It's his wedding ring, I should know. Besides, I'd recognize his hand anywhere" Peg flung herself to the floor, grabbing her husband's hand.

Suddenly a whirl of activities ensued. The young man, who appeared to be the one in charge, began barking orders right and left, finally leaving without another word to the group to go supervise something or the other. Another worker came and ushered them back so they wouldn't be in the way.

Pegregainedher death grip on Hawkeye's hand. "Yes! I knew they would be found!" she flung her arms around Hawkeye's neck and squeezed tightly, nearly choking him

As excited as Hawkeye was, he couldn't get to the same degree of excitedness as Peg was for there was a little voice inside of him telling him that there still was a chance that it might not turn out all right.

"We've got him!" yelled a voice suddenly and the group of workers cheered "We need a gurney STAT!" the medical workers who had been on standby rushed forward .

A paramedic rushed up to Peg "Ma'am, we think we've found your husband. If you'll come with me, we need you to positively identify him"

Pale, Peg nodded silently. She turned to Hawkeye "Hawk, will you come with me?" she asked, almost nervously "I'm scared of all the other reasons they would want me to identify him"

Hawkeye's vivid blue eyes showed concern "Yeah, of course, Peg"

Peg smiled "Thanks" she took his hand again and squeezed it gently

Hawkeye and Peg went to join the paramedic next to the gurney "Ma'am, is this your husband?" the paramedic asked

"Yes" Peg whispered

The paramedic smiled widely and took Peg aside, but Hawkeye didn't follow "Your husband appears to be doing fine…" the paramedic began, but Hawkeye tuned out the rest of what the paramedic was saying. He hadn't looked at BJ since he had approached the gurney; he had avoided it, but now he looked down. BJ looked oddly the same as always. Outside, he was just very pale and bruised and cut, he looked not much different than he did when a long night of drinking would get seriously out of hand back in Korea. Hawkeye beheld the so familiar face of his best friend, remembering how he had so recently thought there was a chance he would never see it again, and was eternally grateful that that hadn't been the case, cheesy mustache and all

"Hey Hawk" said a voice weakly, shaking Hawkeye from his thoughts

Hawkeye's jaw dropped "Beej!" he breathed "Hey there buddy, how ya doing?"

"Like I've been buried under solid rock for God only knows how long"

Hawkeye smiled "Right. Stupid question"

"Yeah. Do me a favor?"

"Of course. Anything"

"Stop holding hands with my wife, yours is coming soon" Hawkeye looked slightly stunned and BJ laughed weakly "She's all right, Hawk, don't worry. I made sure of it. Made sure I got the brunt of when the wall collapsed"

Tears came to Hawkeye's eyes "Thank you, BJ"

"What's a best friend for? Besides, she's my friend too. And I see you took care of my wife too, so we're even"

"God, Beej…" He laughed suddenly and wipeda tear out of his eyes"I never thought I'd say that again. Beej…" he repeated softly

"I know, Hawk, I know" BJ smiled and squeezed his best friend's hand

"I knew…I hoped you'd be all right. I mean, we survived a war without anything happening to us, except a few…a lot of nasty hangovers. You didn't live through the war to be killed by a small, homemade bomb set by an idiot."

BJ laughed and Hawkeye stared at him for a minute, tears in his eyes "You really are my best friend, BJ…" Hawkeye trailed off and looked at his best friend again, and for the first time in his life, was at a loss for words "Don't do that to me again, okay?"

"Okay Hawk" BJ smiled "What happened anyway?"

Hawkeye's face turned into a scowl "Frank Burns happened. He decided to prove that he wasn't afraid of us and could stand up to us and all the times we made a fool out of him by setting a bomb"

BJ's eyes widened "Wow. Talk about a $50 retaliation for a 2 buck crime. Never thought old Frank had that in him"

"I think that was the point" Hawkeye said quietly

"Where's Frank now?"

"Jail, thank God. Under arrest for two counts of attempted murder and possession of illegal explosives and use of illegal explosives. No bail"

"Don't think he'll be getting out of there anytime soon"

"Good. His daughter was helping him"

"Stephanie?" BJ's jaw dropped in disbelief "I would have thought she wouldn't be able to hurt a fly much less set off a bomb"

"She didn't do it"

"But you just said…"

"She just gave Frank the idea to stand up to us and she knew about the bomb but she didn't set it. Frank wouldn't let her and he asked that she not be charged with anything and take her charges on top of his own. Shock and wonder to us all, Frank Burns does care about something and that's his daughter"

BJ's eyes widened again "Now _that_ I wouldn't have thought old Frank had in him"

"Oh my God, BJ!" suddenly Peg appeared by the gurney next to Hawkeye. Hawkeye looked on with a smile as he watched BJ's face light up when he saw his wife and Peg fling her arms as far around BJ's neck as his lying-down position on the gurney would allow.

"Peg!" BJ's voice was muffled against her shoulder "My sweet Peggy!"

"Oh Lord, BJ, I was so scared…"

"I know…I know. It's all right now, darling. Everything's all right. I'm fine" BJ consoled

"I love you BJ"

"I love you too, my angel"

"Sir? We need to take you to the hospital now" the paramedic approached them

"Beej, I gotta stay here…" Hawkeye started

BJ held up a hand to silence his best friend "Yeah, Hawk, I know…"

"I'll come visit you as soon as I can" Hawkeye promised

BJ smiled "I wouldn't have it any other way"

Peg tore her eyes away from her husband long enough to look at Hawkeye "Hawkeye, I want to thank you for being there for me. Talking to you really helped me, I don't think I could have made it through this without you. You were the one that gave me the hope to go on and really believe that BJ would be all right, even if you weren't so sure yourself. I can see why BJ considers you his best friend, and I'd like to consider you that too"

Hawkeye smiled down at the petite blonde and reached over and hugged her "Of course, the feeling is very mutual. I don't think I could have gotten through this without you either cause it was in trying to convince you that everything would turn out okay and seeing you believe me that made me believe too"

Peg smiled through her tears "Margaret will be all right, Hawkeye"

"I know" Hawkeye said determinedly, released Peg, but kept one arm around her shoulders and looked over at BJ "That's because she had BJ looking out for her"

Hawkeye sat as near to the site of the explosion as he was allowed. Everyone from the 4077th had either gone to the hospital, following BJ and Peg in the ambulance, or to the house to fill their spouses and significant others in on the latest news and bring Erin to the hospital to see her father. Hawkeye had insisted that they all leave, he really didn't have a reason why he had done that, though he was kinda regretting it now. He could have used the company, to get himself out of his own head That had been a half hour ago. He had sat there since everyone had left, replaying the scene with BJ and Peg in his mind. He had meant every word that he had said to the both of them about how convincing Peg to believe had made him somewhat believe too, but this increasing amount of time from when they had found BJ made Hawkeye pessimistically wonder if he was wrong. And that thought made him scared, angry and sick all at once.

The raised voices of the diggers brought Hawkeye from his thoughts. He looked up at them. The young man in charge from before approached him. Hawkeye stood up quickly, brushing his hands on the sadly ruined pants from his tux.

"Doctor Pierce…I think we may have found your wife" started the man

Hawkeye's breath caught "Really? Is she all right? How is she?"

"I honestly can't say. I'm not a doctor, but she appears to be fine, just a bit battered and bruised. From what I hear, it appears that when the bomb went off, Dr. Hunnicut shielded your wife's body with his own so he would get the brunt of the damage and it appears to have worked. She's not quite as beat up as he was"

"Yeah, that's Beej…noble no matter what" Hawkeye smiled fondly

"The workers are working on unburying her even as we speak, so if you'll just come this way…"

A gurney stood at the ready like it had with BJ, in pretty basically the same spot, which wasn't very surprising as they had been together when it had happened. The spot was blocked off by yellow caution tape, but looking beyond it, Hawkeye could see long, slender legs, which he would have recognized anywhere. Upon seeing this, Hawkeye threw back his head and laughed harder than he had in days. People were looking at him like he was crazy, but he didn't care. He had been through hell in the last few days. He had always said that being in the Korean War was like going to hell and back, but this had been like he had suddenly returned to it all over again. Not the same conditions per se, but the same mindset, living in constant fear of being blown up, the noise of the explosion, the sight, and the fear that the people he cared about more than anything in the world would be lost to him forever. It was a blast from the past. A very sick, twisted, frightening blast from the past. One which he never wanted to experience ever again. He had lived through those feelings every day for three years, and this experience had reminded him what it was like, that he, god willing, would never have to deal with this ever again, and that he hadn't lost two of the people he held most dear. And more importantly, that it was over. The old, familiar fear was over. For good this time.

"Dr. Pierce?" the paramedic was back, Hawkeye hadn't realized how long he had been spacing out. The gurney was right behind him now, and, Hawkeye now noticed, had an occupant. "Dr. Pierce, is this your wife?" the paramedic stepped aside and Hawkeye looked down at the woman lying on the gurney. Her long blonde hair lay all over, but Hawkeye thought it looked angelic; her gorgeous, hand-made whitegown was tattered and torn (their friend who had made it would have a fit), but Hawkeye thought it still looked beautiful and her long, athletic legs were bruised, but Hawkeye didn't see any of these imperfections. Instead he saw, the woman that he loved, the love of his life; his wife.

"Yes" Hawkeye answered, voice shaking with a mix of disbelief and love "Yes. This is my wife. My Margaret"

The paramedic grinned "Excellent. The woman we found was confirmed to be Margaret Houlihan, aged…"

"No" Hawkeye cut him off "No, this isn't Margaret Houlihan. Margaret Pierce. Mrs. Margaret Pierce"


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: Hey there loyal readers! Bah, sorry for the delay…I had writer's block with like one part, it was driving me crazy lol. Also, it's kinda short, so sorry about that. But anyway, here goes. Second to last chapter! Last chapter's gonna be an epilogue of sorts, and with any hope, it should be up relatively soon if all goes well college-wise and I stop getting distracted with the other stories I'm working on. I'm working on the sequel a bit, I've got the first chapter down and most of the second, but if I post those, I've kinda got to have a story to post, so what I suppose I'm trying to say is it'll be up soon. And unfortunately, I'm not in college for fanfiction writing, (as much as I wish I was) so I've gotta actually do some work for college too. Heehee.

And I love reviews, so please review! Feedback always welcome about anything, so feel free! I feed off of feedback if that makes any sense haha.

Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy!

-AEM

Wedding Bells and Bomb Shells

Chapter 30 - Our Forever

Hawkeye began loitering around at the hospital, same as he had the hotel ballroom, he was still even wearing his wedding tux four days after the wedding (they were starting to get angry calls from the tux rental company). He spent most of his time with Margaret, waiting for her to wake. BJ slept a lot too, in fact he had fallen asleep in the ride to the hospital and hadn't been awake since. The doctors had been quick to assure that neither case was a coma or anything, just the standard fatigue after a trauma, though Hawkeye hadn't needed to be told that and was starting to get in trouble for reading their charts.

Hawkeye had gone to visit BJ a lot, a process which wasn't too complicated seeing how BJ's room was directly across from Margaret's. The fact that Margaret hadn't woken up didn't trouble Hawkeye in the least. The simple act of finding her after nearly losing her in the explosion had firmly convinced him that everything would be all right and she would be all right and nothing more would happen to ruin the life he and Margaret were about to start together.

"Hawkeye?" whispered a voice quietly, making Hawkeye jump a foot off of the end of Margaret's bed, where he was perched, looking for who had called his name, though he was nearly positive who it was.

"Margaret…" Hawkeye said softly, in disbelief, staring at her lying on the bed, her blue-eyes opened staring right back at him "Margaret!" he cried as his brain finally caught on to what was going on and raced over to the bed "Oh God, Margaret!" he sat on the bed and wrapped his arms around her as she buried her head in his chest "My Margaret! I thought I had lost you…"

"Oh Hawkeye…" breathed Margaret, hugging him close "I'm right here, darling. I'm fine. I don't even remember what happened. Last thing I remember is I'm dancing with BJ and then suddenly we heard this loud noise that reminded me of the bombs in Korea, I was so scared, Hawkeye and it sounded like the walls were coming down on us…no more than sounded, I could see it and…" she trailed off and looked up at Hawkeye, horrified "Oh my God, BJ…is BJ all right?"

"Yeah, babe, he's fine. He regained conciousness after they found him, but then he lost it as he was coming to the hospital, but it's nothing to worry about"

Margaret breathed a sigh of relief "Thank God…"

"I'm sure Father Mulcahy already has"

That reminded Margaret of something else. She looked up at Hawkeye, wide-eyed "Is…?"

Hawkeye cut her off, placing a finger gently across her lips "Everyone's fine, love, don't even worry"

"But weren't you and Peg dancing nearby?"

"Yeah but we had gone to sit down barely five minutes before"

"Good. But I still don't know what happened"

Hawkeye told her the story and by the end Margaret was employing a few choice words about the actions and pretty basically everything about Frank Burns and what he had done, using the Irish temper that reminded Hawkeye why he had fallen in love with her in the first place. Hawkeye laughed…laughed for the first time in days "Have I ever told you you're the light of my life and the joy of my existence, Margaret, my love?"

Margaret smiled back and snuggled closer to Hawkeye "Well, I'm your wife, that's the way it should be after all"

"Exactly. And after four days of thinking I had lost you so soon after you became my wife…"

"Four days!" Margaret yelled, in disbelief "…Was it really four days?" she squinted up at him suspiciously

"Yeah…" Hawkeye confirmed, confused

"Four days!" Margaret started off again "That dirty, rotten, asshole! Because of his childish, inhumane antics, we just spent the first four days of our marriage; me unconscious under a pile of rubber, you, not even knowing if I was alive…"

"Margaret…Margaret…" Hawkeye covered Margaret's lips with his finger again "Shhh…baby, it doesn't matter. It's over now. Sure, that was the most horrible way to spend the first few days of being married, but it doesn't matter. We're together now, that's all that counts. You have me and I have you and we have forever. The last few days don't matter. They're in the past. Our forever begins now. And I am now going to kiss my bride"

Ten minutes later, they parted for air "Were you scared, Hawkeye?" Margaret asked, leaning against Hawkeye's chest

"Of course I was scared" Hawkeye answered promptly "I thought I had lost you. You've become everything to me and I couldn't live with the thought of living without you if I lost you. I didn't leave the ballroom once during the whole time you were lost to me… I spent that time trying to remember what my life was like before I met you. I can barely do it. You've been a part of my life so long, even back when we hated each other and bickered every chance we got, you were still there. And I was contemplating a life without you. And…I'm not interested. I'm not interested if you're not a part of my life. You're the most important person in my life, Margaret. You mean more to me than anything…anyone in the world. So when I realized that you were buried under the rubble, my world came crashing down. Literally. And I hated that feeling. I hated the thought of my life without you in it. I mean, I was trying so hard to believe that you'd be all right…I had to or else I would go crazy again, and that didn't appeal to me either. God, I love you so much. You're my life, Margaret and without you, a part of me is missing and that's the part that keeps me going. The part that makes me want to wake up in the morning and live through the day just to see you at night. Without you, I'm incomplete."

"Oh Hawk…" Margaret sniffled and snuggled closer "I love you too. So much. More than anything and if it had been you instead of me…"

"I would have been happier cause you would have been out of danger"

"I wouldn't be able to stand it. You're the one that made me see that who I was wasn't a good person, wasn't who I wanted to be. You saved me from myself. You were the first thing that made me really truly happy and without you, my happiness is gone. My reason for living is gone. There's nothing in my life before you, I ruined it all because of who I had been. The real Margaret Houlihan started with you. You're my past, my present and my future. I'm as incomplete without you as you are without me."

Tears flowed freely down both of their cheeks as they held each other close, to make up for all the time they had lost. Hawkeye pressed his lips to hers

"God I missed this" Hawkeye whispered huskily "I missed you. I love you, my wife"

"I love you too, my husband" Margaret whispered back

The kiss deepened and Hawkeye shifted to get more comfortable. The sound of something metal clinking loudly on the tile floor broke their concentration

"What was that?" Hawkeye looked around frantically checking all the various wires and stuff coming from Margaret, thinking he had broken something

"Something on the floor" Margaret was leaning over pointing to something on the floor

Hawkeye picked it up and stared at it, open-mouthed. He didn't say a word.

"Hawkeye, what is it?" Margaret prompted, curiously

Wordlessly, Hawkeye held out his dogtags.

"Your dogtags?" Margaret asked, confused "I don't understand…"

"I never took them off when I got home, I don't know why. I guess I just got so used to wearing them, I never noticed that they were there. BJ noticed when were getting ready for the wedding the other day and I just got this feeling that something terrible was going to happen, something like what happened in the war. I guess it did"

They stared at each other, both thinking the same thing. The most horrible thing that had happened to them had meshed with the best. Both Margaret and Hawkeye realized at that moment that no matter how hard they might try, the war would always be there to haunt them. But just like when the war had ended, the good had won out over the terrible. They loved each other, and their love for each other had gotten them through the hard times of the last few days. And that was all that mattered.

Hawkeye glanced toward the hallway that separated Margaret's room from BJ's room. He could see Peg sitting at BJ's bedside. She had eyes for nothing else, but her husband. Hawkeye watched as she suddenly jumped up and wrapped her arms around the form in the bed "Hey, BJ's awake" Hawkeye told Margaret, very pleased.

"Oh good" Margaret smiled "Can I go see him?"

"Yeah, not now though. Peg's got pressing business to take care of with him"

"What?" Margaret asked her husband. He didn't turn to her to answer, however, his eyes were glued to the action across the hall.

"Peg's pregnant, but she didn't want to tell BJ before the wedding"

"Oh wow…and then BJ was missing and he didn't know"

"Yeah it nearly killed Peg that he might die and not know." Hawkeye's eyes still hadn't left BJ's room. Peg was holding one of BJ's hands between her own. Hawkeye couldn't see Peg's face, but he could see BJ's. Hawkeye watched as BJ's face lit up and he, probably using all the energy he had in him at that moment reached up and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her towards him and kissing her soundly

Hawkeye reached for his wife's hand and squeezed it, as if making an unspoken bond that one day that would be them "Now he knows"


	31. Chapter 31Epilogue

**A/N:** Well...here we are, three years, 30 chapters, 167 pages (yes I put all the chapters together into one document cause I'm sad like that) and 70,139words later and we've finally reached the end...It feels strange to have been working on a story for more than 3 years, then suddenly have it be all over. But oh well, sequel coming soon, if anyone's still interested (let me know!)I'm out of school next month so, despite the fact the parentals tell me I have to work more this summer, I'll still have time to write, and hopefully I can get this sequel up within the next month or two.

In any case, I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it (writer's block nonwithstanding). Thank you all soooo much for your reviews, they're what kept me at this for three years! I really hope you enjoy the epilogue! And review!

Oh and random note, the two lines in this: _'How do you leave the past behind when it keeps finding ways to get to your heart? It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out till you're torn apart'_ is from my favorite musical of all time _'RENT' _I thought it fit what was going on and despite the fact the last time I tried to insert a song, it didn't go over well, I did it again, but this one fits better I think, and it's not the whole song, only two very meaningful lines, which always stuck with me.

Again, thank you so much for putting up with me and my erratic updates, and my long, random author's notes, and all your kind words. I love you all! And look out for my sequel coming soon! Until then...

-AEM

* * *

9 months later…

Mill Valley, California

"Breathe, Peggy, breathe!" BJ urged. Sweet Peg Hunnicut fixed her husband with a glare that would have scared bears away.

"I _know_ BJ. I've done this before or have you forgotten!"

BJ shrank back from his wife. When she was in labor, was the only time he was afraid of his wife. "Yes, dear. I was just…"

Peg finished her contraction and patted her husband on the hand "I know, BJ…"

BJ smiled, relieved "Don't worry, sweetheart, I know by now that it's just the contractions talking."

"Ahh! How'd I let you talk me into doing this a second time!" and the contractions had begun again

* * *

Crabapple Cove, Maine

"It's too early!" insisted Margaret loudly, as she was brought in to the delivery room

"Well, Pierces are notoriously early. My great-great-grandfather, Tombstone Pierce…"

"Pierce! Shut up!"

Hawkeye shut his mouth immediately. He was nervous, hence his inane babbling. He had always had the habit of hiding his feelings behind his jokes. He was nervous for he was just minutes away from becoming a father. The Pierces had wasted no time in reproducing, for Margaret had conceived on their honeymoon, which they had went on the second Margaret was released from the hospital. And now the baby was early by almost a month and a half, but Margaret and Hawkeye had been told that it was safe for the baby to come. Margaret had been so happy to find out she was pregnant, the whole biological clock thing, she had told Hawkeye. Hawkeye, on the other hand, had come into this whole thing with mixed feelings. On one hand, he really wanted to be a father, but on the other hand, he was still frightened about what might happen, especially considering how every time he closed his eyes to go to sleep at night, the image of the Korean woman strangling her baby on his orders played in his head constantly…

_The baby was crying. No. It was wailing. They were going to be found. They were going to hear them. He was so scared of that. Everyone was and they were going to be killed all because of that one little baby._

_Hawkeye Pierce stormed to the back of the bus "Keep that baby quiet!" he hissed at the South Korean woman, all niceties and politeness flew out the window as he realized that he was the only one who could save them from the North Korean soldiers, just outside the bus. _

_Hawkeye was on his way back to the front of the bus when he suddenly noticed it was quiet. Too quiet. The baby…It was wailing one minute and silent the next. Deathly silent._

_Hawkeye spun around to find the Korean woman exactly as he had left her, still holding her baby, but now it was she that was crying. The hand that was supporting the baby's neck dropped, the baby's neck along with it…_

"Hawkeye!" Margaret screamed, shaking Hawkeye from his daydream. From his nightmare.

Hawkeye rushed over to his wife's bedside. He hadn't had a flashback like that in a long time. It was almost like he was back there; he could feel it all, like it was just yesterday, the tiredness; both physical from lack of sleep and mental from tiredness of the fighting and the fear. The fear of death. He hadn't felt that in a long time, and it scared him because he thought he was cured, he thought he was ready for children, except he really had no choice this time. He couldn't walk away like he had that time at that party.

Margaret's hand slipped into his as she began another contraction and he helped her along, but clung to it for his own personal use; his lifeline. He didn't want to go back. After their wedding, he and Margaret had had a long talk about the war and how they never would be able to quite shake it. This was all so true, but this was getting ridiculous...

* * *

_How do you leave the past behind when it keeps finding ways to get to your heart?_

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Mill Valley, California

"I can see the head!" Dr. Selman, Peg's obstetrician announced.

BJ turned eagerly to his wife "See, Peggy, you're almost there"

Peg fixed her husband with another one of her death glares "BJ Hunnicut, one more word of fake encouragement, and you're sleeping on the couch for a month"

Dr. Selman stifled a laugh, while BJ meekly apologized

"Quit laughing, she's serious" BJ mumbled out of the corner of his mouth to his colleague

"I heard that!"

"Yes dear" BJ said quickly, thinking how much his wife sounded like Margaret in the worst of her 'Major Houlihan' moments. BJ would kill Margaret if she had been giving her training in that.

It was right as Peg started a new contraction when the full impact of what was going on really hit him. They were having a baby. Granted, he had known that for nine months now, since their last visit to this hospital when he, himself had been the patient, but it didn't fully hit him until just now. They were having a baby. Another baby at that. But unlike with Erin, BJ would actually be around to watch this kid grow from an infant to a toddler. He would be around to see his or her first smile, first word, first steps…He would be the one this child first called 'Daddy'. There would be no stupid war to keep BJ from this child.

He had never fully gotten over how he had missed so many of Erin's firsts. It had damned near killed him to lose all that precious time, and though he would be here to see these child's firsts, it would never make up for the fact he hadn't seen Erin's too.

* * *

_It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out till you're torn apart…_

* * *

Crabapple Cove, Maine

Hawkeye clung to Margaret's hand, as much for himself as for her. The Korean baby just kept crying, then stopping abruptly over and over again and his words kept coming back to him _"Keep that damned baby quiet!"_ It wouldn't stop. Hawkeye squeezed Margaret's hand tighter, trying to keep himself there. This was where he belonged; here with his wife, with their child soon to be born. He needed to leave the past behind. It was over. There was no war; it wasn't 1953 anymore. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault the Korean woman had chose to kill her own child to save all of them. It was admirable, if you wanted to get right down to it, but it wasn't his fault.

The war was over…and it wasn't his fault…

* * *

Mill Valley, California

The war had torn them apart, BJ mused, as he stood by Peg, guiding her through childbirth and watching the miracle of life for the second time. Yes, the war had taken him away from his wife and child, but it wasn't his fault that he hadn't been with them. He needed to leave the past behind and look to the future. He had so much in his life to be thankful for, a beautiful wife, soon to be two beautiful children, he couldn't spend the rest of his life regretting something from the past that he hadn't had control over to begin with. He needed to leave the past behind. He had been granted an second chance at watching a child grow, one that he had come so close to losing nine months ago, and it would be a waste to lose it because he couldn't let go of the fact that he hadn't been around to see his first child.

The war was over…and it wasn't his fault…

* * *

Crabapple Cove, Maine

"A boy?" Hawkeye repeated the obstetrician's words in disbelief

"Yes, Hawkeye" Dr. Martin repeated, with a smile. He had delivered Hawkeye, it only made sense he would still be around to deliver Hawkeye's son as well. "You have a son"

"Margaret…we have a son" Hawkeye said to Margaret breathlessly

"A boy…" Margaret repeated, equally in awe "What do you think we should we name him? I think we should name him after somebody. We can't do Col…Sherman, Klinger already took that"

"Dirty, Lebanese scoundrel" Hawkeye cursed lightheartedly "But you're right, we should name our baby after someone. Someone important, to us, that is, before you go saying we should name him after McArthur"

"Douglas is a nice name…oh I was kidding, Hawkeye…We need to name the baby after someone important…"

"Someone meaningful…"

* * *

Mill Valley, California

"What are we going to name him, BJ, darling?" the sweet Peg Hunnicut had returned after she had given birth to their son. BJ was still in awe over this, but after both parents had performed the customary counting of all fingers and toes on the baby, Peg had turned to the task of naming the baby. BJ still couldn't get over the fact he had a son.

"A boy this time?" BJ repeated, like he was afraid the gender would change

"Yes, BJ" Peg tried to hide a smile "Should I take it then that even though you said that you'd be happy with either, you'd be a bit disappointed if we had another girl?"

This brought BJ out of his revile "No! I would have been happy with either…"

"BJ, dear, I was joking"

"Oh right"

"So what about names? We never decided on one for a boy"

BJ pondered this thought for a while. "I want to name him after Hawkeye" BJ said suddenly, breaking the companionable silence between him and Peg, making her jump at both this, and BJ's suggestion.

"BJ…" Peg said gently "You know I love Hawkeye as much as you do, and I think it's sweet you want to name the baby after your best friend but I draw the line at naming our son after a character from The Last of the Mohicans"

"No, I didn't mean naming him 'Hawkeye'. Best friend or not, I don't want a son named Hawkeye either, but Hawk's real name is Benjamin; he never uses it, but it's still his name. Could we name our son Benjamin?" BJ looked so hopeful, Peg hated ruining it, even if she wanted to.

Her face grew into a smile "I like it" BJ and Peg smiled down at their son "Our son, Benjamin Hunnicut"

* * *

Crabapple Cove

"If I do that, I'd have to make it stand for something, unlike his. I'll figure out what later" Hawkeye had been ranting like this for a good five minutes since Margaret had asked him for his input on baby names. She had been regretting it ever since.

"Hawkeye Pierce, if you don't tell me what you're talking about this instant…" Margaret left her threat open, knowing he had good enough imagination to think of what she might do to him. That paired with the fact he knew her as well as he did was a deadly combination, or rather deadly to him, it made her job a lot easier.

"I know what we should name the baby" Hawkeye said, his usual flair for the dramatic coming out full force "Let's name him BJ"


End file.
